Evolve: The Story of the Unlikely Survivors
by a-world-with0ut-dr34ms
Summary: When we think of a cast for a zombie apocalypse, we think of a group that's dependable, smart and all around bad ass. But in reality it wouldn't be this way. In reality, when disaster strikes, it's during inconvenient times when you're not prepare, making it unlikely we'd survive right? Well it's not always like this. This is the story of those unlikely survivors.
1. OC Format and Introduction

**Introduction:**

When we think of zombie apocalypses, the cast that often pops into our heads is one that's smart, works well together, may have some problems but ultimately is just bad ass. We think of the cast from the movies and TV shows we watch, or the characters we play in video games. The leader is an all around kick ass guy that's big and handsome and is a crack shot, having companions who despite may argue and have their differences get the job done. Most of all, we think that we'll be that cast when the time comes.

Odds are though, we won't be. We all say we know what we'll do if an apocalypse happens but it's pretty obvious that when the apocalypse actually happens, no one will be prepared and half of you are going to crying in a corner. So when we read stories of those "perfect" survivors, we're reading lies.

When bad things happen, it's usually inconvenient, you're never prepared like you normally are and it's something you'd never imagine it'd be. So this isn't your typical zombie story about a group of teenagers who some how magical become adapt to their changing surroundings. This is a story of the not so lucky survivors in this disaster. This is the story of the unlikely survivors.

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**So I'm new to the whole Highschool Of The Dead SYOC thing so hello everyone. This is my first story ever on fanfiction so if you guys could go easy on me that'd be cool. I hope you guys have fun making your OC and please give my story a chance! I wanted to be a little different with the SYOC story, so I was wondering what a zombie story would be like if the cast wasn't all perfect and magically/conveniently prepared for the apocalypse, so this is basically a story about a group of high school students that seem unlikely to survive in a zombie apocalypse. So here are the rules and what not.**

**\- Takes place in an imaginary town in the Northwest called Brier Field  
\- Rather than the outbreak starting when they're at school, it'll actually be during a school field trip (just to turn the tables around)  
\- The main cast will be seven people, but everyone's character will be used  
\- I'll have a cast list update on May 10  
\- Please don't review your OC, PM them  
\- If you could make your OC fit with the theme of being an unlikely survivor in the story then they'll probably have a higher chance of being chosen**

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**MAIN INFORMATION**

**Name: (First, Last)  
**

**Nickname: **

**Age: (The lowest age you can go is seven)**

**Gender:**

**Birthday: **

**Nationality: (Whether they're American, Japanese, British, etc.)**

**Race: (If they're Caucasian, African-American, Asian, etc.)**

**Sexuality: (Heterosexual, Homosexual, Pan sexual, etc.)**

**Grade: (American system grading, from freshman to senior, if they're in high school)**

**Occupation: (Do they have a job?)**

**Religious View: (If they have one)**

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**APPEARANCE/ACCESSORIES INFORMATION**

**Height/Weight: (In that order)**

**Skin Tone: (Fair, Olive, Pale, Dark, etc.)**

**Eye Color: (Unless it is contacts, no weird eye colors (such as pink) allowed)**

**Body Build Type: (Lean, Fit, Big, etc.)**

**Breast Size: (For Girls Only, unless you want to for your dude I guess)**

**Hairstyle: (Please be reasonable)**

**Hair Color: (Again, please be reasonable)**

**Scars/Tattoos/Piercings/Etc.:**

**First Set Of Clothing: (Worn when first brought in/When the zombie outbreak begins)**

**Second Set Of Clothing: (Worn later on in the story)**

**Alternative Set Of Clothing: (Just in case they need another outfit)**

**Do They Resemble Someone?: (Like a celebrity for example)**

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**HISTORY/BACKGROUND INFORMATION**

**Personal Background: (They're history before the outbreak)**

**Personal Relationship With Their Family: (List who's in their family and they're relation)**

**Personal History With My OC: (Depending on if they know my OC) **

**Any Crime Related History?: **

**Any School Related History?:**

**Are They In A Clique Of Any Kind?:**

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**PERSONALITY and PREFERENCES INFORMATION**

**Overall Personality:**

**Overall Traits: (At least four)**

**Strengths:**

**Weaknesses:**

**Vices:**

**Fears/Phobias:**

**Secrets:**

**Mental/Medical Illnesses:**

**Likes:**

**Dislikes:**

**What They Look For In A Relationship: (Appearance and Personality wise)**

**Turn Ons:**

**Turn Offs:**

**The First Thing They Notice In A Stranger: (Like when they see a stranger or meet one for the first time, what's the first thing they notice about them)**

**Personal Opinion On My OC:**

**Strategies In The Outbreak: (Once the outbreak starts, what's your OC's strategies on what to do (i.e. what's the first thing they'd do once they gained their cool, where would they go and what would their overall game plan be?)**

**How Did They First React When The Outbreak Occurred?: (Please be realistic, think about how you'd truly react)**

**Other Information:**

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**EXTRA**

**Can They Drive?: (If they can, what can they drive)**

**Do They Own Any Form of Transportation?: (If they do, please be realistic) **

**Starting Weapon: (If they're in the school, please don't give them a gun or a sword. If you do and I decide to include your character then I'll just make them unarmed)**

**Primary Weapon Selections: (Primary, Secondary, Melee)**

**Alternative Weapon: (If their primary is unavailable)**

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**My (Unlikely to survive a zombie apocalypse in reality) OC**

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**MAIN INFORMATION**

**Name: Dustin Debrowski  
**

**Nickname: Dusty, Browski**

**Age: 17**

**Gender: Male**

**Birthday: December 9**

**Nationality: American**

**Race: Caucasian**

**Sexuality: Heterosexual**

**Grade: Senior**

**Occupation: Ticket booth worker at the AMC theatres**

**Religious View: Not very religious, but does believe in a God**

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**APPEARANCE/ACCESSORIES INFORMATION**

**Height/Weight: 6'3, 180lbs**

**Skin Tone: Fair Skinned**

**Eye Color: Hazel (nearly brownish green)**

**Body Build Type: Lean, somewhat skinny, fit**

**Breast Size: N/A**

**Hairstyle: Short and slightly ruffled**

**Hair Color: Dark brown with a somewhat red tint in it (not too heavy of a tint though)**

**Scars/Tattoos/Piercings/Etc.: Silver hoop, spider bite piercings, and a couple scraps and scars from past incidents**

**First Set Of Clothing: A black t-shirt with a big white cross on the front, dark gray jeans, black Adidas and a black zip up hoodie with the front open**

**Second Set Of Clothing: A long sleeve black shirt with the same dark gray jeans, some orangy tan combat boots, a zip up hoodie and a black beanie (or toboggan as some people refer to it) with a digital watch on his left hand**

**Alternative Set Of Clothing: Dark gray tank top, light blue jeans, a black beanie and black Adidas**

**Do They Resemble Someone?: I sort of based 80% his looks off of Alex Koehler from the music video "Sonnet of the Wretched". If you're curious, you could just type in Sonnet of the Wretched and go off of that either on Youtube or Google, it's up to you dudes**

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**HISTORY/BACKGROUND INFORMATION**

**Personal Background: Dustin lived a pretty simple and unexciting life. He was born in Denver, Colorado before him and his parents moved to Brier Field when he was five. Growing up, Dustin didn't really talk much and rarely involved himself in school activities. Throughout middle school, all he ever did was come home and play video games or spend time in his room. He was picked on a few times for being quiet, but ultimately, the bullies just grew bored of him and left him alone for the most part. During middle school, his little sister Annie was born; around this time his parents began to argue a lot. The arguments usually weren't too bad, but Dustin often feared that his parents would divorce. By seventh grade, the feeling subsided though. One day in eight grade, a friend offered him drugs in which they sat outside of the school and did them the entire dance. Since then, Dustin would often do drugs with his friends, most people referring to them as stoners. This reputation would stay with him all throughout high school, but never did it cause any real problems with him and other students. To this day, his parents don't know he does drugs (even though is sister does), and he still hangs out with the burnouts and gets in trouble with the teachers.**

**Personal Relationship With Their Family: He lives with both his parents Joel and Casie Debrowski, and his 13 year old sister Annie. He has a good relationship with them and loves them all greatly. He'd do anything to make sure they were safe.**

**Any Crime Related History?: Though he doesn't count it much as a crime, he's been caught with drugs by the campus police a few times, but has never been arrested for it.**

**Any School Related History?: He has a bad reputation with the teachers who really don't like him and label him as a delinquent. At school he's known for getting suspended a lot or barely showing up to class due to often getting high during school. Despite the reputation of being some stoner, students never have a hard time talking to him because he's pretty chill and rarely talks to begin with, so he doesn't have a violent school history rather just a drug filled one.**

**Are They In A Clique Of Any Kind?: He usually just hangs out with the burnouts**

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**PERSONALITY and PREFERENCES INFORMATION**

**Overall Personality: Dustin is a chill and laid back guy who doesn't really talk much. He's not shy though, which is what people often think, he's just the type of guy who doesn't speak unless spoken to. Towards his friends though he's very social and outgoing, often cracking jokes a seventh grader would laugh at being he's really immature. Despite his immaturity he's smart and actual contains a 3.7 grade average. Dustin is very open minded and easy to talk to if people ever felt like it, but he tends to make irresponsible choices and can be obnoxious and not taking things serious, especially when he's high. When he's high, anything that moves he'll start laughing at and will have the attention span of a baby. Around people he has a crush on, he'll try to act as smooth as possible, but will tend to fumble over his words. It takes a lot to piss him off but when you do you better watch out because you're practically dead to him after he hates you.**

**Overall Traits:  
1.) Loner  
2.) Laid Back  
3.) Intelligent (even though he doesn't look like it)  
4.) Observant  
5.) Social**

**Strengths: Open to new ideas, is actually really smart when he tries, very observant and is very easy to talk to**

**Weaknesses: Is irresponsible at times, has an immature way of thinking about things which usually makes him look obnoxious, holds grudges when mad at someone, and does drugs**

**Vices: Does drugs (mainly weed)**

**Fears/Phobias: Losing his family, and really doesn't like bears**

**Secrets: Is really scared of bears**

**Mental/Medical Illnesses: Doesn't have the best stamina due to doing drugs**

**Likes: Heavy music, energy drinks, video games, social networking, weed, sleeping, coffee, animals of any kind (except bears), cloudy days and karaoke**

**Dislikes: Bears, most pop and rap music, headaches, whenever the weather is over 75 degrees, people who judge people and strict people**

**What They Look For In A Relationship: Dustin doesn't really have much of a preference when it comes to appearance, but likes girls of color if he had to choose, though girls with big eyes are a big up for him too. If they have an immature sense of humor like him then they'll get along fine, and if they're confident about themselves he'll probably end up getting a crush on them.**

**Turn Ons: Big eyes, dark hair, has a good sense of humor, confident, and have a bit of sassy attitude. They don't have to have all of these traits/features for him to like them though (he's very easily turned on)**

**Turn Offs: Girls who are conceited, act like a stick in the mud, have bland personalities and take everything too serious**

**The First Thing They Notice In A Stranger: The first thing he notices when he sees a stranger is their posture; he's not the most judgmental type but he can tell pretty quickly someone's personality just from their posture.**

**Strategies In The Outbreak: His outbreak strategy would be to take stock of whatever he has, gather as much information on what's going on as possible and head home and barricade his house until he has to go somewhere else.**

**How Did They First React When The Outbreak Occurred?: So many emotions came to him at once that he was frozen for awhile, not knowing how to react to everything. Once he gained his composure though, he will immediately began to make a strategy on what to do next until he feels safe again**

**Other Information: His voice often sounds hoarse, slightly deep and tired**

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**EXTRA**

**Can They Drive?: He can't drive stick, but he can drive a manual, and has a licences **

**Do They Own Any Form of Transportation?: He owns a skateboard, but tends to drive his mom's silver 2003 Honda Accord, being he doesn't have a car himself.**

**Starting Weapon: A large monkey wrench**

**Primary Weapon Selections: A silence p90, a glock 42, and a small pocket knife**

**Alternative Weapon: Just a simple, metal baseball bat**


	2. OC UPDATE!

**So I'm still accepting OC's for my story, and won't officially start typing the story until May 10; but for now here's the list of people who've been sent in so far. Just so you know, these are just people who were sent in for now, so I haven't officially decided who is in yet (so don't get your hopes up). And if it says pending, that means I either know you're sending an OC but haven't gotten it yet or you've asked for the SYOC Form (which I've sent to anyone who's asked) and you haven't sent an OC back yet (from what my PM box is receiving anyway).  
**

**Unofficial**** list of characters in Evolve**

**DISCLAIMER: Besides the first character, I do not own these characters.**

**1\. Dustin Debrowski (a-world-with0ut-dr34ms)  
2\. Layla Reed (Yonna9queen)  
3\. Marian Smith (Ghost132)  
4\. Darren Robinson (robbo2480)  
5\. Sienna Dawn Morris (CyanoticNightmare)  
6\. David Reiss (ShinBP)  
7\. Jimgo Perkison(enarmonios)  
8\. Alex Anita (christopher564)  
9\. Natalia Valentino (Verum- truth)  
10\. Pending (Lazersword88)  
11\. Christobel Token (LittleMissTypical)  
12\. Conner Wilson (Larse-Justice)  
13\. Mikhail Irahita (TBN)  
14\. Cassidy DeMort (awesomestrprime8)  
15\. Pending (PandaHeroXD)  
16\. Jacqueline Ferndale (HellKing666)  
17\. Noah Kelly (king okami)  
18\. Chris Robertson (Robertsoncr13)**


	3. Final Update

**So I still have not decided who would be in the main cast yet, so what I am going to do is just type and see which characters I like as I go along, so I guess it's a mystery. The final group that leaves probably won't just be the seven main cast people either so basically speaking, there isn't a main cast yet decided and it will be decided later on in the story. For now, these are the people I've received; I'm not accepting anymore high school students (unless it says they're pending, which means they're still typing their person), but the format will stay up in case you want to send in filler character for later (otherwise I'll make up my own). Once again, here is the list that I got (which I will update if there are any changes(*note, it'll be on this specific chapter if I do update it, it won't be a new chapter).**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these people except for the first character on the list. These characters rights belong to their owners which I have credited.**

**1\. Dustin Debrowski (a-world-with0ut-dr34ms)  
2\. Layla Reed (Yonna9queen)  
3\. Marian Smith (Ghost132)  
4\. Darren Robinson (robbo2480)  
5\. Sienna Dawn Morris (CyanoticNightmare)  
6\. David Reiss (ShinBP)  
7\. Jimgo Perkison(enarmonios)  
8\. Alex Anita (christopher564)  
9\. Natalia Valentino (Verum- truth)  
10\. Pending (Lazersword88)  
11\. Christobel Token (LittleMissTypical)  
12\. Conner Wilson (Larse-Justice)  
13\. Mikhail Irahita (TBN)  
14\. Cassidy DeMort (awesomestrprime8)  
15\. Pending (PandaHeroXD)  
16\. Jacqueline Ferndale (HellKing666)  
17\. Noah Kelly (king okami)  
18\. Chris Robertson (Robertsoncr13)  
19\. Dainty Trestorous (Awesome D.T)  
20\. Kyuro Daitoryu (HIKAGE-SAMA)  
21\. Katsu Tokoroshi (RedStar7481)  
22\. Shayla "Shay" Gore (SetTheSilenceFree)  
23\. Luna Neveah (MidnightSilhouette)  
24\. Matthew Knight (Mookiebear12)  
25\. Katherine Monroe (HappilyEnding)**

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**Now I just feel the need to address that some of you did a really good job at sticking to the theme that these are unlikely survivors (meaning that they were the type of characters that don't seem like they'd survive in a zombie apocalypse), because in all honesty, the unlikely survivors are the normal and realistic character of the world, and are your everyday teenager. But then there were some of you that went a little off a bit when it came to realism with characters, of course this is just my opinion though. In example, some of you (and I'm not going to say names, and there were multiple people so if it was you, don't feel bad about it) sent in people with crazy parkour skills and such. Also, some of you sent in people who drove like motorcycles or something, and might be in gangs too. Now, while it is a very unique person (like I wouldn't have thought of typing my OC like that, take that as a compliment), I will tell you now that being as I am in high school, I have never seen a teenage do parkour successfully, or drive a motorcycle to school (Unless it's on TV or a teacher's motorcycle). I think the reason I made my OC a stoner is because I'm surrounded by them and hang out with them, so it just seemed really easy to type about (and plus it doesn't seem likely that a stoner would survive a zombie apocalypse).**

**But never mind my rant, either way, I've decided to post a little bit of information about every OC on here, so you guys have a good view on the characters that will be used in this story. What I did was put their name, gender, age, and sexuality, while their nicknames were in quotations between their names. I then summarized their appearance and copy and pasted the personality and strengths/weaknesses you sent in. For personality, if it seems a little different it's because I fixed a few grammar errors you may have had, or the spell check just changed it. If you're pending, when you send them in, I'll just add them onto the list, and if you have any complaints or you notice an error please tell me.**

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**Dustin "Dusty, Browski" Debrowski (Male, 17, Heterosexual)  
**Isn't very religious, but believes that there is a God****  
**Dustin is a fair skinned Caucasian American with brownish green hazel eyes, a lean, somewhat skinny fit build and short and slightly ruffled dark brown hair that has a bit of a red tint. He has a few scraps and scars on his skin due to past incidents, but the most notable thing about him is the silver hoop spider bite piercings on his lower left lip near the corner. Resembles Alex Koehler in Sonnet of the Wretched. Stands at 6'**************3.****************  
**Dustin is a chill and laid back guy who doesn't really talk much. He's not shy though, which is what people often think, he's just the type of guy who doesn't speak unless spoken to. Towards his friends though he's very social and outgoing, often cracking jokes a seventh grader would laugh at being he's really immature. Despite his immaturity he's smart and actual contains a 3.7 GPA. Dustin is very open minded and easy to talk to if people ever felt like it, but he tends to make irresponsible choices and can be obnoxious with not taking things serious, especially when he's high. When he's high, anything that moves he'll start laughing at and will have the attention span of a baby. Around people he has a crush on, he'll try to act as smooth as possible, but will tend to fumble over his words. It takes a lot to piss him off but when you do you better watch out because you're practically dead to him after he hates you.**  
**Strengths: Open to new ideas, is actually really smart when he tries, very observant and is very easy to talk to.**  
**Weaknesses: Is irresponsible at times, has an immature way of thinking about things which usually makes him look obnoxious, holds grudges when mad at someone, and does drugs.**

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**Layla Reed (Female, 18, Heterosexual)  
Not very Religious, but believes in God  
****Layla is a tan skinned Latina/Native American with dark brown eyes, a curvy figure with **36D sized breast, and long, straight jet black hair that rests on her chest. Resembles Francia Raisa. Stands at 5'7.  
She was never the girl who talked much. She prefers actions rather than words. From the start she's very sarcastic with a dry sense of humor. She likes to say things honestly and with little to no filter. But she's a very nice and loyal person. After everything, her trust issues increase and she begins to fear that she will get close to someone who will take their life.  
Strengths: She's a reasonable thinker and quick on her feet.  
Weaknesses: Sarcastic and has trust issues.  
****

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**Marian "Mari, Smity, Gigantor, Amazon" Smith (Female, 18, Homosexual)  
Norse  
******Marian is a pale, fair skinned Caucasian/Scandinavian with icy blue eyes, a lean and fit build with ****34C sized breast, and black hair put in a low, loose ponytail. Marian has the Assassin's Creed symbol on her right ring finger. Half an inch away from the corner of her lip's right side is a jagged scar running down on her upper and lower lip, stops at the groove of the chin. She resembles Morrigan from Dragon Age and stands at 6'1.  
**********Marian is blunt like a hammer; she tends to make people made pretty easily and she takes everything so serious it's really hard to get to know her but if you have the patience and the determination, you will eventually get her to like you and she will give you almost anything without the thought of a reward and she will help you with anything you ask. She has a very dry sense of humor so you don't know if she is joking or not.  
Strengths: Very observant, clear headed (sometimes), and is sometimes open to ideas.  
Weaknesses: Stubborn, can hold long grudges, and is an A-hole when stubborn.  
**

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**Darren "Robbo" Robinson (Male, 18, Heterosexual)  
Doesn't believe in God  
****Darren is a fair skinned British/Caucasian with light grayish blue eyes, a stocky body build that's slim and toned with broad shoulders, and dark brown, mid-length and messy hair. He has a small scar under his left eye and his face looks like Matthew Linard when he played Shaggy in Scooby Doo. Stands at 6'1.  
Very sarcastic and likes to hide behind that. Has trouble connecting with other people. Has a temper but is mostly in control of it and will only lose it if pushed. Will only do something if it benefits him.  
Strengths: Has high endurance and knowledge on a few guns due to his dad.  
Weaknesses: Doesn't like accepting help, doesn't trust easily and is an alcoholic.  
**

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**Sienna "Dawn, Morris" Morris (Female, 16, Heterosexual)  
Agnostic  
****************Sienna is a fair skinned Irish American (Caucasian) with dark green eyes, a lean, hourglass shaped body with **************34C sized breast and dark orange hair that goes to her mid-back and has naturally curled ends, along with bangs across her forehead. **************She has her belly button pierced along with her ears twice with two cartilage piercings on her left ear. She has a tattoo of a bunny on the back of her neck that her mother allowed her to get on her birthday.**************************************** She looks somewhat like Isla Fisher. Stands at 5'4.  
Sienna is a sweet girl. She is kind and soft-hearted, humble, trustworthy. She can be quite innocent and naïve to many things around her, but has a nice sense of humor. She is affectionate and loving to her friends, and pets, she tries to make pets out of the scariest animals and can most of the time tame them with just soft speaking and love. She often gets taken advantage of because of her sweet self. She can be quite lazy and she's sometimes too dependent on others. She is really lazy sometimes and would rather sleep than train for a day. But she trains anyways, knowing that it will all come in handy one day. She is a loyal friend and will always keep promises and vows. She is often absent-minded and daydreams most of the time. She stays up most of the night which causes her to hate mornings. She likes colorful and bright things along with the moon and the stars. She can be an outgoing and crazy girl once you get to know her and she becomes quite blunt and honest about things. She is intelligent and can solve things easily, she thinks things through before doing them and is cautious wherever she goes.  
Strengths: Thinking up ideas on how to deal with something and her ability to run without getting tired for quite awhile.  
Weaknesses: Her anxiety and her trust issues.  
**

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**David Reiss (Male, 17, Heterosexual)  
He doesn't really stress out the fact, but he is Catholic  
****David is a fair skinned German American (Caucasian) with deep blue eyes, an athletic and fit build and medium length, messy and spiky dirty blond hair with a few bangs falling on his forehead. He stands at 6'1.  
****Reiss is a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, he is really optimistic, positive and cheerful, he doesn't let anything faze him and he always faces life's challenges with a smile or a cocky smirk depending on the occasion, he is the kind of guy that always puts a 100% effort into everything he does, as a result, even if he wasn't meant to be intelligent or strong, he has built up a keen mind and built a tempered body, people like him are hard to come by, and while society usually tries to make stand-outs like himself fail, his iron will keeps him moving forward and making friends in the process, as a friend, he is a really nice guy to speak with, since he is kind, understanding and really careful with his words, around the girl he has a crush on, he tries to speak a lot with her, or "seek her out" you might say, with caution and once he feels the girl has opened up to him, he takes a much more direct approach.  
Strengths: Probably, his biggest strength is his Fast Learning ability, if concentrated enough, Reiss can learn a day's worth of knowledge in a couple of hours, this strength will probably overpower (vastly) his first weakness in a matter of days or maybe hours if lucky enough.  
Weaknesses: His fighting is at Level: 1 (Reiss has never fought in his entire life, putting him in a wrecking disadvantage at the beginning of the apocalypse) he automatically trusts strangers and tends to put other people's safety before his own (he isn't reckless at all though, he won't risk dying).  
**

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**Jimgo "Jim" Perkison (Male, 15, Heterosexual)  
He is Christian, but doesn't believe much  
****Jim is a pale skinned Korean and American mixed guy with brown eyes, a lean build and black, short and messy hair that reaches to his neck.  
He is very quiet, due to the fact he was a victim of bullying in grade school. He tries to go unnoticed , but somehow he always makes a fool of himself in school in some sick twist of fate. He is very clumsy and dorky when he panics, so when he wants to go unnoticed he fails. He is very insecure about his physical looks, and he only feels at ease when he is doing what he likes.  
Strengths: He can run fast, he is calculative, so he can come up with various scripts and plans, he knows how to do first aid and generally knows how to treat an injury because he often takes care of his sister.  
Weaknesses: His shyness, his phobias, he can't be intimidating with people and he freezes when somebody points at him with a gun.  
**

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**Alex Anita (Female, 17, Heterosexual)  
Catholic  
****Alex is fair skinned Caucasian Canadian with blue eyes, a lean figure with C sized breast, and long blond hair with dirty dish water blond high lights, her hair going to her shoulder blades. She stands at 5'6.  
Alex is really shy during first impressions, and really quiet but once you'd get to know her you'd realize she's a very smart and friendly girl who can be outgoing and very playful  
Strengths: Intelligence, Manipulation skill  
Weaknesses: Quietness, Lack of strength  
**

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**Natalia "Nat, Blondie, Barbie" Valentino (Female, 16, Heterosexual)  
Has no religious view  
********Natalia is a tan skinned Spanish American with a fit, athletic and toned build with ******36C sized breast, and long hair that goes to the middle of her back and is blond with the tips dyed red. She has hooped earrings, a rose tattoo on her right shoulder and shoulder blade, as well as lyrics on her left wrist. She resembles Jennifer Lawrence, and stands at 5'4 (1.65m).  
Natalia is the type of girl who always tries to help people out even if she herself could get in trouble for it. She can keep a grudge and will wait for the other person to apologize first, she would never make the first move. Very open and loving to most people unless they lie or hurt her. With Natalia people get one chance and one chance only.  
Strengths: Resourceful, fast, and good with marksmanship.  
Weaknesses: Not too physically, the dark, and doesn't know the school layout that well.  
************

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**Christobel "Chris, Belle" Token (Female, 17, Heterosexual)  
She's not quite big on religion, I guess you could say she's spiritual, she goes with the flow but she does believe in God you could say  
****Christobel is a light tan Thai Asian with dark brown eyes, a skinny fit body with c sized breast, and dark brown short hair that reaches her shoulders and is slightly curly. She has a tattoo of two doves flying together on the back of her right shoulder, some scars from before but the main one is one running right above her right eyebrow. Resembles Hayley Kiyoto and stands at 5'5.  
Is pretty much a typical teenager in some ways but at times she can act like she's older then she is. She doesn't like listening to adults when they scold her and is the one to talk back to her parents. She has a bad and quick temper that she can't really control but usually regrets what she says before. When she's not rebelling, she's usually in school, out at the animal shelter or just hanging with her family. She's a funny person and likes making people laugh or smile at times her self esteem is low and she needs a boost but she's upbeat most of the time. She loves animals so she volunteers at the animal shelter and plays with all of the animals to keep them occupied. She's a quite witty person and is the one to think out of the box or just to do something incredibly stupid. She's very prideful and never agrees when someone says that she's wrong. At times she has that type of peppy attitude at the worse times and just makes you want to strangle her. But at other times she has a feisty attitude that Also makes you want to strangle her. She can be oblivious a lot and remarks a lot of people with sarcasm. Around people she likes she blushes like the complete time they're talking and looks down at the ground and sometimes speaks in her national language by accident or her accent appears so you cant really understand her but other then that she's ok at English. She has quite a bad temper and has no patience really. And a lot of times she lies to you without even realizing it like you ask her name and she says Sarah instead of Chris/Christobel. But she's trying to get rid of that habit.  
Strengths: Is quite intelligent and is an out of the box thinker, is fast on her feet, quick thinker, and a good person to cheer you up.  
Weaknesses: Her anxiety attacks, her obliviousness, and is prideful.  
**

* * *

**Conner "Hershey" Wilson (Male, 17, Pan-sexual)  
****Conner is a pale skinned Irishman (Caucasian) with Eden green eyes, a slightly chubby and hunched build, and copper red hair that is straight but slightly shaggy. He has snake bite piercings and stands at 5'6. He resembles El Generico (unmasked, second picture on Google)  
Conner is a nice person and can be trusted by most of his friends. He likes to keep cautious and stay as far away from strangers as possible that look like they could be bad. His friends could say the same as him but he is very secretive. Short story, he is very secretive. He does have a little anger issues and can't control his temper over the slightest bit of people being annoying.  
Strengths: Cashier and drive trucks  
Weaknesses: Has a temper, likes eating food, people who are very annoying, dumb blondes, any person who should know the right decision but decides to ask.  
**

* * *

**Mikhail Irahita (Male, 18, Heterosexual)  
Atheist  
****Mikhail is a fair skinned Caucasian Russian with green eyes, a fit body and messy hair that reaches the back of his neck with bangs reaching his eyes, that is a mid shade of brown with naturally red highlights. They stand at 5'10.  
A hard-headed teenager that gets irritated very quickly with most people.  
Strengths: Intellectual, skilled with accuracy (hunting in all) and hand to hand combat.  
Weaknesses: Easily Irritated, hard headed, quick to charge into situations, kind of lazy.  
**

* * *

**Cassidy "Cass" DeMort (Female, 16, Heterosexual)  
Is Catholic, and prays daily  
Cassidy is a light, dark skinned African American/Irish mixed American with dark brown eyes, a slender and practically curve-less body other than containing some vague hip figure, being a ****************32B breast size, and has dyed vivid cherry red hair that goes a little past her shoulders with box bangs, the ends of both her bangs and hair being choppy and scene like. Has a black septum and fading scars on forearms. She resembles Rihanna in the facial features, but not too much, standing at 5'3.  
Cass is a very eccentric and random person, you never know what she's gonna say next, whether it's funny or completely out of line. She's blunt and honest, and is a pretty loud person in general, oozing with confidence. She's witty and snarky, but nice, having the mentality of a child. She's very social too when she breaks out of the little barrier she put around herself, but doesn't really get close to other, and actually very pessimistic despite it all. Nothing bad ever really surprises her in the world, and she has an "oh well" kind of out look on everything. She depends on herself, and she believes she'll never get hurt in life if she lives with the saying "Me, Myself, and I".  
Strengths: Agile, easy to get along with, and is a crack shot  
Weaknesses: Independent, physical weak, easily depressed, pessimistic******************

* * *

**Jacqueline "Frost, Ice Queen" Ferndale (Female, 17, Heterosexual)  
Atheist  
****Jacqueline is pale skinned British/American mixed Caucasian with light blue eyes, a thin frame with an A-Cup, bordering on B-Cup breast size, and light blond hair that's put in a single braid, the rest being straightened. She resembles Weiss from RWBY, standing at 152cm (4'9).  
She is a cold individual, hardly showing a smile to others due to her isolated upbringing, she hasn't lived the life of a normal girl so she doesn't see the amusement in jokes and other things, she has a high sense of pride, so when she is faced with a superior opponent, she expects them to act how she is, when they don't, she instantly jumps on those flaws and think about how they are a disgrace, mostly even forgetting any of their positive characteristics until they come into play.  
Strengths: She is a capable leader, being able to sense what do in a situation as well as when and where do it.  
Weaknesses: She is not good in the social side of things, as she never bothered to learn charisma, she doesn't have the right impact or persuasion to have others follow her, and her pride can get in the way of accepting ideas.  
**

* * *

**Noah "Kel" Kelly (Male, 18, Heterosexual)  
Agnostic  
****Noah is a dark skinned English/British man with dark brown eyes, a lean and toned build and black hair that's in dreadlocks that stop at his neck. He has two full sleeved tattoos that consists of tribal, music and basketball stuff; he also has a scar on his forehead. He resembles Leon Thomas and stands at 6'2.  
Noah is a laid back level headed teenager that does the things that he loves and doesn't let anyone stop him from doing them. Noah is also perceptive, analytical and a great leader which are things he learnt from his time playing basketball. Noah is a great listener but if you ask for advice he will give you a blunt truthful answer because he tells people what they need to hear not what they want to hear. He can have a dark sense of humor at times which is off putting to some people. When talking to a girl he likes he is up front and honest with his feelings and will tell the girl how he feels about her because he doesn't fear rejection.  
Strengths: Stays calm in stressful situations and is very analytical. He listens to what people have to say and is great at leading a group of people.  
Weaknesses: Can be very blunt, can be stubborn when it comes to decision and can be too laid back.**

* * *

**Chris "Cowboy" Robertson (Male, 18, Heterosexual)  
Christian  
****Chris is a slightly tan skinned Caucasian male from Texas with light blue eyes, a slightly muscular build (a body of a worker) and blond hair that is style like the medium regulation of a marine cut. He has a skull tattoo on his left bicep and a small scar above his eye from his father. Resembles Brantley Gilbert before the beard, and stands at 6'1.  
****Friendly to most, uses brute force to solve problems. Worst fear is his father.  
Strengths: Strong willed, father taught him basic shooting, and knows auto mechanics.  
Weaknesses: Fear of his father and can be emotionally distant at times.**

* * *

**Dainty "Teacher's Pet, Nerd Herd" Trestorous (Female, 16, Heterosexual)  
Firmly believes in God. Recites a small prayer before going to sleep at night.  
****Dainty is a fair skinned German with jet black, large, baby-ish eyes, a petite figure with a flat chest and black hair that is often in two low plaits, the length going to her shoulder. She stands at 5'5.  
Dainty is very shy, timid and easily persuaded (though can never go against Dustin). She hates being the center of attention and gets nervous if it ever happens. However, she's also very sweet, kind and helpful and terribly polite. Also, good at understanding people's emotions. She hates violence and sports and can easily start crying if someone gets hurt. Speaks very softly. Worries a lot about others. An otaku.  
Strengths: Alert, often tries to stop fights in the group, obedient, can fight when the situation calls for it, intelligent.  
Weaknesses: Shy, easily frightened when she's alone, not very social.**

* * *

**Kyuro "Yuro, Ryu" Daitoryu (Male, 17, Heterosexual)  
No religious view  
****Kyuro is a fair skinned Japanese America with sky blue eyes, a fit build, and black hair that has droopy bangs going left and right and is shoulder length. He has a small scar on his left hand he go during a fight. He stands at 6'0.  
Kyuro is a calm and polite boy. He loves to hang out with girls and is really outgoing about his feelings. People think he is like an open book but he has a lot secrets that only him and his mother know about. He often gets good grades like 7.1,etc. He doesn't like fighting much but will fight if he has to protect someone close to him. And if he's called 'small eyes' or 'Fatherless' well your life profile will have the big words called 'DECEASED'.  
Strengths: Chooses wisely on whom he should trust, reasonable person, understands others problems, good at uplifting the moods of people and intelligent.  
Weaknesses: Reckless when he has to protect someone and once he starts fighting he doesn't stop until he knocks the other person out or gets knocked out himself.**

* * *

**Katsu "Black Kat" Tokoroshi (Male, 17, Heterosexual)  
Atheist  
****Katsu is a slightly tan skinned Japanese guy with deep, dark green eyes, a slim and toned body type, and black hair that short, spiky and barely reaches his eyebrows. He has a small scar under his left eye, and has spiraling tattoo of a black dragon eating its own tail on his right forearm. He stands at 6'0.  
The best way to describe Katsu is being a total goofball, he doesn't seem to take anything seriously and prefers to treat serious moments like a joke or a game. He takes extreme pleasure in making off the wall jokes at every chance he gets, mostly by making friendly cracks at the people (Or zombies) around him. It seems to be very hard for him to not grin in a sly manner, as he does it constantly, He grins even wider when he gets to fight. Katsu seems to be very proud of his oddness, saying "People may be crazy...but they aren't quite like me are they?" For some reason he doesn't remember the names of people he has met recently very well, so he makes up nicknames for them. Vaguely egotistical and relatively childish, He can be considered extremely annoying and idiotic by people who just met him, but he steadily shows maturity the more you know him.  
Strengths: Katsu is incredibly agile a natural born runner, and an ace at climbing. He has great knowledge of the city, due to him being a courier before the outbreak, so he knows lots of shortcuts and ways around things as well as various gang hideouts that potentially have valuable supplies. Katsu is a very odd fighter, he uses a mix of parkour and martial arts that is very difficult to track or predict. Katsu has always prioritized street smarts over book smarts, and this appears to be a double edged sword. He also tries to keep everyone happy and lighthearted throughout the outbreak, so he helps morale.  
Weaknesses: Katsu is completely and undeniably reckless and irresponsible when it comes to anything dangerous. He will rush off by himself sometimes to kill a zombie or climb something simply on a whim, witch usually gets him in trouble. Due to his excessive joking, Katsu can be considered extremely annoying at times and will sometimes get on the nerves of his teammates. Katsu is only able to use revolvers and shotguns, he isn't capable of using a rifle or modern handguns. He insists that "Its just his style. And they give off a bigger boom!" But it appears that he is only familiar with wheel guns and shotguns. Katsu likewise cant drive a car at all, but can drive a motorbike very well.**

* * *

**Shayla "Shay, Tomboy, Street Fighter" Gore (Female, 17, Heterosexual)  
She's not very religious but believes in God.  
****************************************************Shay is a pale skinned Brit with aqua green eyes, a slender and ample curved build with **************************************************34-C sized breast, and dark brown hair with a red tint that used to be long before she cut it off into a pixie style hair cut with her bangs being messy and in her eyes most the time. She has a nose ring on the right nostril and various piercing going up her ears. She has carious floral tattoos on her arms that her guardian doesn't know about, and has scars from fights. She resembles Valorie Curry in facial features and similar hairstyles only Shay's is a lot messier, and she stands at 5'2.  
Shay is a sarcastic and blunt person, who's always getting into fights and relishes in her alone time. Shay is easily angered with her short temper but also knows when to cool down and reason with someone, and if that doesn't work... Well, there's always a good kick to the face. Shay always thought differently from everyone else, like girls wearing pink? she wore blue, or long hair was in? she grabbed some scissors and cut that s*** off, stay awake in class? Might as well take a snooze. But also mentally, she feels that her brain was wired differently, always thinking in detail about certain situations and how they would turn out in her head. Shay was intelligent, despite her lack of attention during classes, she was quick on her feet and had a sharp tongue to match her sarcasm, she figured if she was gonna be a smartass, why not be smart? Shay has trust issues and tends to push people away, but gets attached easily to people and is afraid that they will eventually leave her.  
Strengths: Knows how to fight (has amazing kicks), has a way with words, is quick on her feet, and is intelligent.  
Weaknesses: Doesn't get along with people, can be rude, very blunt, short temper, can lash out at people, and has insomnia.****************************************************************************************************

* * *

**Luna "Blue, Nev" Neveah (Female, 17, Heterosexual)  
Atheist  
****Luna is a olive skin toned French American with dark brown eyes (blue surrounding the iris), a slim but curvy build with c cup sized breast, and mid back length hair that's bleached pure white and is curly. She has a colored Sakura tree on the right side of her hip and a metallic gold key on her wrist, along with a cartilage piercing, and a dragon belly button piercing. She stands at 5'7.  
Luna is pretty open minded and easily angered and will plan your death when given the chance. She loves to party and lives by the motto "Rules are meant to be Broken'. Is very protective of things including her small group of friends. Has the dirtiest mind ever the most straight forward person you'll ever meet.  
Strengths: Open- Minded and has good memory.  
Weaknesses: her little sister, can be very reckless and stubborn, Harry Potter.**

* * *

**Matthew "Matt, Matty" Knight (Male, 17, Bi-Sexual)  
He believes in God, but that's about it.  
****Matthew is a fair skinned (but pale to a certain degree) British/American with light gray eyes, a slightly fit but still somewhat skinny build, and black hair that shines blueish gray in different lighting, that is styled in a straight mid-length cut with bangs curled over the left eye and part of the right. He has a black lip ring on his bottom left side of his lip. He stands at 5'10. Resembles Frank Wolf without the white hair and blue eyes (Type "Frank Wolf Model White Hair" in Google, is the very first picture).  
He is dense and rude, but has his moments when he is kind, understanding and all that jazz. He is cocky, but a fun loving cocky and sarcastic, and isn't afraid to laugh a little in a bad situation, looks on the bright side. Despite he being rude and dense, he actually values people's feeling towards him and won't try to betray you. Often will tease people (nothing to hurt their feelings). Most of the time will try to lighten up the mood if he feels like it needs it. He doesn't really act on his crush if he has one because he is scared he will scare them away. Matty is completely different went he is dating. He is very kind and a gentleman. He never yells or gets angry at the person he is dating even when the person is yelling at him.  
Strengths: Can get the group out of bad situations easily, has tons of stamina, is a fast learner, and knows how to shoot a gun.  
Weaknesses: Does not think before he acts, thinks he can save everyone, can not keep a cool head when everyone else is panicking, and will blame the death of one of his friends on him.**

* * *

**Katherine "Katie" Monroe (Female, 16, Heterosexual)  
Agnostic  
************************************************************************************************************Katie is a fair skinned mixture of Argentinean, French, and Irish American with large, greenish-yellow eyes with blue fleck in them, a lean build with **********************************************************************************************************32B sized breast, and auburn colored hair that's dyed indigo underneath, with natural wavy hair that can be frizzy at times and goes down to about two inches below her shoulders. Katie has two ear piercings on each ear lobe, a few scars on her legs from accidents here and there, and four X-shaped scars on her stomach from self harm. She resembles Lizzie Brochere and stands at 5'6.  
Full of eye rolls and adventure, this book worm can easily be classified as crazy. She has a zeal and zest for living that only occasionally is impaired by her previous experiences with depression. She can be extremely awkward and weird, but she has a great sense of humor. Despite projecting sunshine, she's very sarcastic and sassy. She can also be paranoid and vaguely b***.  
Strengths: She good at sex, she's smart, she's very optimistic, she's fast, and she wants to live despite relapses in depression.  
Weaknesses: She's got very little upper body strength, she doesn't make friends easily due to awkwardness, she's not coordinated, and she's terrified terrified terrified of the zombies, her mental illnesses, the lack of medication, and how empathetic she can be. Also, she'd do just about anything for a book in the outbreak situation.********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

* * *

**So I already have six chapters layed out for the story so I'm going to start typing it, and it shouldn't take very long for the first chapter to come out. Just keep a look out for the next chapter. Bye.**


	4. Chapter 1: All Is Calm

****I typed this awfully quick, being I'm sure you guys don't want to wait forever for the first chapter and all. I hope you all enjoy the first chapter (there aren't any zombies in it), and ~*I have a poll for you guys on my profile that I'd like your opinion on.*~  
As for the story, I think I only introduced ten out of the twenty five characters I received, and I'll just inform you now that just because your OC was introduced first, does not mean that they are the main cast, it was just what I felt like typing about is all. :)  
I tried making people as accurate as possible, so if anything seems strange, please tell me. And I thought it'd be cool if each ACT had a theme song so the theme of this ACT will be Oh Catastrophe/The Fallout by Crown the Empire (think of it like an opening song that will change per ACT).  
Also, being as I'm trying to make this story as realistic as possible, some of the chapters will be over rather offensive topics (such as rape, murder, racism, religion, etc.), so you've been warned. Later on I'll probably end up changing the rating to M.  
And Brier Field is located in the Northwest (fake) and resembles Spokane but is located where Lakewood would be, since Spokane is nearly in Idaho.  
Also, if you want to add any changes to your OC, just PM me and I'll change that for you. In example, one of you guys asked if I could change the person they resembled (It was Conner Wilson and if you're curious you can just browse through and see who), and I can just re-edit the chapter and do that, so it shouldn't be a problem as long as you tell me before hand :)****

****Please review (really long reviews if you'd like), and I hope you guys like the pilot chapter. I'll stop holding you guys back now. :D****

* * *

**ACT 1  
**The Resurrection of**  
**

**Chapter 1: All Is Calm**

* * *

"Why won't you just tell the truth Joel?"

"I am telling you the truth, you're just not listening-"

"I am listening and I know you're lying! I know you were out with Miranda tonight!"

"I wasn't out with anyone tonight Casie! Where's your proof that I was out with her?"

"I don't need proof to know, I see the way you look at her whenever she's around; I can smell the perfume coming from you-"

"Oh my God, do you hear yourself right now Casie? Just because you're insecure doesn't mean you can let it ruin my day too so why don't you back off already!"

"I'm not insecure; you're an asshole-"

"I'm not arguing with you anymore, I'm going to bed."

The stomps of his dad's footsteps filled the now silent apartment, rain from outside smacking against the glass of his window which black curtains managed to keep the street lights out. It's amazing how quiet a home can get after such loud arguing. Between his mom's accusations which were nearly always false, and his dad's rude remarks and impatient temper, these were how most nights ended nowadays. It gets so bad now that the neighbors have started filing complaints. Dustin feels as though he should be use to their constant bickering being he grew up with it, but there he was, up at 2am in bed staring at the ceiling.

Dustin was in his bedroom in which he shared with his thirteen year old sister, her bed pressed against the wall directly across from his own. He'd been up for the past few hours now, knowing he wouldn't get much sleep tonight. The apartment was cold as Dustin pulled over his gray covers, hiding his head beneath them while burying his face in one of his pillows.

By now, his dad had slammed himself shut in his bedroom, leaving his mom in the living room to cry probably. It was chilling how quiet things were right now, but overtime, Dustin indeed heard her crying. He tried his best to block it out. He suddenly though heard a ruffling noise coming from inside his room before he felt something tap him. Dustin moved his covers to see a pair of hazel eyes meeting his own. It was Annie, his sister.

Annie was as short as ever, her dark brown hair put into a pony tail. The white tank top she had on fit her like a dress as it covered the pink shorts she wore, her fair skin a bit pink. Even in the dark, Dustin could tell she was crying. "Dustin," she spoke, her voice broken, "Can I sleep with you?"  
"Sure," he said, scooting over as she grabbed her blankets. She climbed onto his bed, curling into a ball and wrapping a blanket around herself as she tried her hardest to go to sleep. Him and her both. This is no way a child should be living

The fact that he'd be graduating soon amazed him. A couple more months and things would be different; soon he wouldn't be living here anymore either, which made him happy, though he wasn't looking forward to leaving Annie here without him.

Eventually, light from the sun seeped through the cracks within the curtains and morning arrived. Dustin's weary eyes glided over to his alarm clock perched on the window seal. _6:00 A.M_. Dustin groaned, quietly sitting up from his bed as he planted his feet on a plushy tan carpet; it was littered with magazines and clothes but he could still walk through it. Dustin stood up, doing his normal routine as he yawned, stretching his arms over his head while walking out of his bedroom.

Upon exiting, he was greeted by a small hallway which went into the living room, his bedroom being the door at the end of the hall. On both sides facing each other were two dark brown, wooden doors, the one on his left being his parent's room and the one on his right being the only bathroom in their apartment. The whole house was covered in the same tan carpet other than the white tiled flooring for the kitchen and the bathroom, the white walls containing some portraits and family photos. It was really just a normal apartment to be honest.

Rubbing the back of his head, Dustin entered the bathroom, flipping up a switch as a yellow-ish light filled the room. Immediately he stood in front of a counter, observing himself in the mirror. His skin was fair but awfully pale in the lighting, his arms covered in old scraps and bruises that haven't gone away yet. He was tall for a seventeen year old, standing at 6'3, and was fit from working out here and there, but at the same time awfully skinny. His hair was dark brown with somewhat of a red tint, his hair being short and slightly ruffled. His most notable feature however was probably the silver hoop spider bite piercings near the left corner of his bottom lip.

Doing what he normally did on a weekday mornings, he ruffled my hair a bit and brushed his teeth. After using the bathroom, Dustin exited, retreating back to his room as he threw on a pair of light blue, somewhat skinny jeans and a dark gray tank top, following by a black zip up hoodie and a matching black beanie. By now, twenty minutes had gone by, giving Dustin fifteen minutes before he needed to start driving to his school, Gilbert High. Throwing on a pair of converse and getting his backpack ready, Dustin brought all of his things into the living room, plopping on the black leather couch as he turned on the TV. Dustin was immediately greeted by a reporter.

She stood at the front of the camera, her hair blond and long as the end of it was hidden behind a rather ugly, brown scarf. She clutched tightly onto her microphone with a concerning look on her face, a hotel standing tall behind her. "Hello, this is King 5 News coming to you live in Brier Field," she said, her voice sounding identical to any other news reporter, "Public service announcement - a lot of Brier Field has been going through domestic issues between random incidents and fights, but nothing like what happened just this morning.

"Just this morning a family was found brutally murdered in their house by the father of the household, Todd Murphy. Murphy's daughter and wife, Madison and Miley Murphy were found dead by the police just this morning. Neighbors claim to have heard commotion coming from inside the house along with screaming from what sounded like the daughter, but the police, unfortunately, were not called in time to save these two's lives. Todd Murphy when found by the police appeared to be-"

Dustin's heart skipped a beat when he saw that the TV changed a channel without him doing so. "You're probably the only teenage boy to this date that watches the news in the morning," a deep voice said from behind. Dustin turned his head around, seeing his dad standing near the hallway with a remote in his hand. He was as tall as him, his hair styled in a crew cut and graying along with his five'o'clock shadow. Underneath the dark green shirt he wore, Dustin could see the beer belly he was beginning to form from access drinking. He seemed to be smirking at him until he looked in Dustin's eyes, probably noticing the forming bags from sleep deprivation.

It became a bit awkward when he walked into the living room, plopping on the couch beside him; but at the same time it was still comforting. Despite him and and his mom arguing a lot, Dustin still loved the both of them equally. "Hey," he said, "I'm sorry if your Mom and I kept you and Annie up, Dustin," he apologized.  
"It's OK," he said, standing up from the couch, "Well, I'm going to head to school now, and I'm taking mom's car today. See you later."  
"OK, see you later."

**...**

"Stop it!"

The bell for first period was merely a good five minutes away from ringing, but that didn't stop two girls from irritating some poor child in the library. They sat in the back of the library, smirking to one another as they ripped off small pieces of paper from a journal, throwing it at a student who was trying to do his homework at the table in front of them. They tally marked how many pieces of papers he ignored or didn't notice hit the back of his head as they giggled at each little strip they threw. Wasn't much fun, but a great way to burn time.

The girl sitting in the chair on the left was Cassidy DeMort, though she'd rather go by Cass. Cass had light dark skin and brown eyes, her hair dyed a vivid cherry red as it rested a little past her shoulders, both the end of her hair and box bangs choppy, resembling a scene type hair cut. She was the one who came up with the idea of throwing small pieces of paper to bypass time.

Sitting beside her in the right chair was Katie Monroe, the ring leader of this small group. She was taller than Cass by three inches, standing at 5'6, her hair an auburn color with indigo dyed beneath it was naturally wavy and was about two inches passed her fair skinned shoulders. Both girls had piercings, being Katie had two ear piercings on each ear lobe and Cass had a black septum piercing.

Cass and Katie continued to throw small sheets of paper at the boy as he groaned, itching the back of his head in discomfort. Whenever he looked back at them and protested, the two girls would casually look down at their phones as if they were never throwing papers to begin with. They'd praise each other for their acting abilities later.

Before they could continue throwing papers, suddenly, another girl came up from behind them. "What are you guys doing?" she asked.

"Waiting for the bell to ring," Katie spoke, turning to face the girl.

Standing before them was Natalia Valentino. She was of average height for a girl, standing at 5'4, having a tanned and athletic body which was fit and toned. Her blond hair had red tips as it went to her mid-back, her hooped earring dangling beside her. She smirked at her friends, continuing to stand behind them. Cass turned to look at her as a big smile spread on her cheeks, her eyes lighting up like they always did when she saw someone she knew. "Hi Nat!" she waved.

"Hi, Cass," Natalia nonchalantly stated. Cass pouted, crossing her arms over her b sized chest. "You sound tired, what's wrong?" asked Cass.

"It's nothing," responded Natalia. "You can tell me, you seem sad," Cass pried. Natalie chewed on the inside of her lip before sighing. "My Mom's in the hospital," she quickly said.

"What? What for?" Katie asked.

"I don't know, she was fine a few days ago, but then she started getting really sick and she passed out. At first my Dad and I thought it was just alcohol poisoning, but it turned out to be something more than that. The hospital says she'll be fine but I went to visit her this morning and she looks awful. I just hope she gets better soon," Natalia explained.

The bell rang in the background, causing the three girls to begin to exit the library, starting into the first floor of the school hallway. The flooring was a light gray linoleum while the walls were gray and made of concrete littered in posters advertising upcoming events, one specific event being the field trip to the Seattle EMP. The hallway was full of students rushing to their classes as they stopped at their dull and dark green lockers, placing their backpacks inside and pushing through the sea of teenagers.

"Do you know when she'll be released?" Cass asked. Natalia combed her fingers through her hair and groaned. "Soon hopefully. I miss her already."  
Natalia always had a good relationship with her mom, being she was the type of mom who'd rather go out and party with her daughter than let her do her homework. With her being in the hospital, she's already bummed about the reality of actually having to go home and do her homework.

Her train of thought was cut off when she heard someone from behind tap her shoulder. Natalia turned her head to see Conner Wilson smiling behind her. "Hey," greeted Conner. "Hi," Natalia responded, soon receiving a friendly hug from Conner.

Conner was the kind of guy who could just hang out with anyone, so it'd be impossible to generalize him in a clique, even with him having somewhat of an anger issue that slightly contradicts is rather nice personality. Conner didn't really attract much attention from the females, being he was slightly hunched and chubby with glasses, only stood at 5'6, and was a ginger with copper red hair that's short, straight and slightly shaggy. With his snake bite piercings, people always thought he was trying to be cool when in reality he just liked having them. Despite it all though, people often complimented his eyes which were an Eden green color.

"You're here early for once," Natalia spoke, trying to get her mind off of her mom. "Yeah, I woke up early for once," Conner chuckled. By now Katie and Cass had parted ways, going to class while Conner and Natalia went to theirs as well.

"Are you going on the field trip tomorrow?" asked Conner, the two of them entering their classroom. "Yeah," Natalia answered, "I'm excited about it. I've never been to the EMP before, but I heard it's super cool." Conner laughed a bit, taking a seat at his desk as Natalia did the same. "If you like music, the EMP is awesome. I've been there a few times and there's just a ton to do there. The Space Needle's right next to it too; you'll love it-"

Conner was cut off with the shutting of the classroom door, followed by a substitute teacher walking in. The whole class sighed in relief. By now, the second bell had rung, meaning everyone who wasn't in class already was late. The substitute teacher stood at the front of the class, dressed formally with his dark hair slicked back, his eyes observing a clipboard full of names on it and the tasks for the day. "Hello everyone, I'm Mr. Sanders, I'm substituting your teacher today while they're out sick," he explained, "Being sick seems to be the norm nowadays, so you can expect to be seeing me for awhile."

Some of the class chuckled at his little remark, but Natalia stayed quiet, thinking about how the teacher was sick too. She's noticed that a lot of people have been out lately for unexplained reasons others than some sort of sickness that came out of no where. She didn't want to think about it though; all that was on her mind was this rather attractive substitute teacher.

**...**

The school day was almost over and Dainty couldn't focus on her lab assignment with Dustin in the same room as her. It was always in chemistry class she focused the least in, and she had no one to blame but the fact that she shared a class with Dustin, a boy whom she's had a crush on for as long as she could remember. For her, it was like a love at first sight kind of love; for the moment she'd seen him she was just drawn to him. She could never explain why.

Dainty stood in front of a microscope with her big and baby-ish jet black eyes darting back and forth from the assignment to her crush who was laughing beside his lab partner Chris Robertson, a guy with somewhat of a muscular build and blond hair that is styled like the medium regulation of a marine cut. Dainty brought her eyes back to her lab assignment, her black hair put in two plaits that reached down to the shoulders connected to her rather petite body size. Whenever the science teacher would look over, she pretended to be working, but when he walked away, she'd continue to stare at Dustin. She paused however when she felt a finger poke her shoulder.

Dainty looked over and saw David, her lab partner, looking at her with a funny expression on his face. David had fair skin and deep blue eyes, his hair dirty blond at a medium length which was messy and spiky with a few bangs falling on his forehead. "Did you hear me?" he asked.

She blinked, shaking her head a bit as her eyes scurried down to the microscope. "No, I'm sorry," she said, "I was thinking about something."

"You seem distracted," said David, "I mean, you always seems distracted in here but today it just seems like more than normal. And I saw you staring at something-"

"I wasn't staring at anything," she interrupted with a frail voice. David tried to follow where her gaze kept going before he figured it out, making a small "aw" noise to himself. "You're staring at Dustin aren't you?" he said in a quieter voice. Dainty's head shot up quickly as her cheeks turned red. "N-No, I wasn't," she protested. David chuckled a bit before making a blank facial expression. "I mean, I can't judge you for staring but why him?"

"Why not him?" Dainty shot back.

"Well, it's not that I don't like him or anything, but at the same time I'm not too keen on his company. Like, have you ever talked to him before, he's like the most immature person in the world, and he always smells like weed where ever he walks; I mean the whole school knows he does drugs as openly as he whips it out all the time. He's irresponsible too, and never takes anything serious. I just think you could do a lot better," said David.

"He's not always like that," retorted Dainty, "He's really nice if you'd take the time to get to know him." Dainty couldn't really say that though, being she's never really talked to him before herself. But all the same, that didn't stop her from defending him. David shrugged, looking back down at the microscope as he wrote down the answers to their assignment. "If you say so," was all he said in reply.

David's always had a small crush on Dainty, but only after talking to her in class. He's always liked girls who were smaller than him, being she was 5'5 and he was 6'1, and liked petite sized girls with long hair. Most of all though, he never understood why she liked Dustin. He wasn't jealous of him for Dainty liking him instead, but at the same time still, David gave him a cold shoulder.

The final bell rang as everyone put their things away and grabbed their backpacks, beginning to exit the classroom. Dainty, who was rushing, held onto the worksheets she'd gotten from the class, deciding she'd put them in her backpack when she got to her locker. She always grew nervous when leaving her bicycle on the bike rack outside the school. Just as she was about to exit though, she suddenly collided with one of the students, falling firmly on her butt and into the hallway just outside the door. She grunted upon impact, her nose wrinkling a bit as she rubbed her backside, her papers falling everywhere.

"I'm so sorry," a hoarse, tired and slightly deep voice spoke in an almost panicky tone. Dainty looked up and her face immediately turned dark red when she saw that it was Dustin.

People were walking around them in the hallway as he knelt down beside her, his eyes slightly wide. "Are you OK?" he asked. She was mentally punching herself in the head when she found it incredibly hard to reply, ultimately just nodding her head in response rather than saying anything. Dustin grinned, picking up her papers for her and organizing them as Dainty watched in confusion. "Well, again, sorry about that. I had a lot on my mind and... you're kinda short so I didn't see ya," he chuckled. Dainty giggled idiotically in return.

Dustin stood up, Dainty doing the same while Dustin gestured her the papers he'd picked up. "You have nice handwriting by the way," he complimented, Dainty taking the papers away from him. Her heart was doing a million back flips because of the compliment. "Thank you," Dainty cheerfully stated. Dustin nodded, adjusting the straps of his backpack on his shoulder which were prying into him a bit. "So, were you heading out?" he asked with a smile.

Dainty nodded, "Yeah, my bike's outside; as unpredictable this school is I wouldn't want anyone to steal it or anything."

"Yeah, I got what you mean dude," Dustin chuckled. It was quiet between the two as she avoided eye contact with him, being that her face was getting even more red. "Dusty!" a girl suddenly called from behind.

The both of them looked back as they saw a girl slowly jogging over to them. She had pale skin and aqua green eyes, standing at a height even shorter than Dainty at 5'2 with her hair a lot shorter as well, being it was dark brown with a red tint and cut into a pixie cut with her bangs being messy and in her eyes. Her name was Shayla Gore, but everyone usually just called her Shay.

Shay paused in front of Dustin, eyeing Dainty a bit before looking up at him. "I need a ride," she said bluntly, placing her hands on her hips. Dustin groaned, cocking his head back. "You can't take the bus or something?" Dustin asked.

"Does it look like I have money for a bus?" she questioned.

"Does it look like I have money for gas?" he questioned. Shay pouted a bit as she punched his shoulder harder than he'd expected, making him wince a bit. "Please," she said more kindly, "I'll pay you back; I always do." Dustin pretended to think about for a moment before grinning once more. "Fine, but you owe me." Shay smacked her lips together and smiled, "Sure, whatever; now come on! I've got things to do."

Dustin turned back to Dainty who looked confused, hugging her papers to her chest. "Well I'm gonna go now," Dustin stated, "I'll see you around then OK?"

"Sure," Dainty smiled. Dustin nodded, Shay grabbing his hand and beginning to drag him down the hallway. "Alright, bye!" he said.

Once they'd made some distance, Dustin took his hand away from Shay. "What was that about?" Shay asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"That girl back there."

"Who Dainty? It was nothing, I bumped into her by accident heading out of class."

"Yeah, you _bumped_ into her by "accident", I got what you mean," Shay remarked.

"You can take that however you want, I don't care. But since when have I become your personally taxi driver?" asked Dustin.

"Since I've decided you were fit for the job. Don't act like you don't like giving me rides," Shay said.

"You're funny," Dustin said sarcastically.

"I know I am," she smiled. The two of them exited the school, heading into the parking lot as they walked over to Dustin's car... well his mom's car. It was a silver 2003 Honda Accord with black leather seating. The two of them entered the car, Dustin getting in the driver's seat and Shay entering the passenger's seat. Dustin put the keys in the ignition, coughing a bit as he opened the window on his side of the car. He continued to cough even more violently, covering his mouth with his arm.

"Are you high right now?" Shay asked, staring at him. "I got high this morning but it's starting to wear off a bit," Dustin replied, clearing his throat. Shay shook her head in disapproval. "You're going to be like 40 with an oxygen tank and a wheel chair," she commented.

"Yeah, along with a group of beautiful women taking care of me as I waste away my life," Dustin replied. Shay flashed him a bit of disgusted look as she asked, "You're not serious about that right?"

"No, of course not. You know I'm not like that," Dustin replied. Shay chuckled, turning on his car radio as she buckled her seat belt. "Well I was serious; drugs shorten life spans." Dustin groaned, changing the channel as the speakers spit out Hold On Till May by Pierce the Veil, Dustin pulling out of the parking lot and onto the road. "Yeah," Dustin said, "Drugs are a life shortener but I'm still young. I'll regret it when I'm older but hey, give me a few more months and I'm out of this hole living life for real. So I'm just living in the moment right now, you get me?"

They stopped at a red light, watching as two ambulances raced down the road, followed by three cop cars, the sidewalks vacant of human activity. "I guess so," stated Shay, "But anyway, you won't believe what happened to me today. Some bitch got all whiny that she could hear my music through my headphones and it was "disturbing her learning" or something. So I tell her I'm sorry to hear that and just continue listening to my music. So then she goes and tells the teacher on me!"

By the time the commotion died down, the light turned green and Dustin continued driving down the road. "Oh wow," he laughed, flashing her a corny look. "Yeah, that's what I was like!" Shay exclaimed, "I mean what is this, fucking grade school or some shit? So then I tell the teacher that she needs to get a grip and she calls me rude or something, and I was about maybe five seconds from punching her if the bell hadn't of rung."

"Who was it?" Dustin asked. "Jacqueline, the little bitch. I swear if I see her I'm gonna go ape shit on her ass." Dustin couldn't help but laugh at how angry she was getting. "Well hey, calm down, it's all in the past for now," he said. Shay sighed, crossing her arms. "I guess so," she said.

Shay and Dustin were very good friends since sophomore year. Shay didn't have any other friends at school other than Dustin, and often got into fights due to her having a short temper and a sarcastic attitude. She didn't like Dustin at first either, being she always thought he needed to grow up (which she still thinks). However, Dustin was there for her when she'd gotten badly hurt in a fight, and went out of his way to take her to the nurse when she'd passed out afterwards. He even decided to stay in the nurse's office until she woke up, even after being informed that she'd be OK. Since then they've been closer than close, and were practically like family.

As Dustin become closer to Shay's house, he noticed that a couple roads were blocked off due to some incidents that the fire and police department had to deal with. The drive was maybe ten minutes longer because of it. Eventually though, Dustin pulled in front of Shay's house, parking near the sidewalk.

"Oh, by the way," Dustin mentioned, watching Shay grab her bag from the back seat, "Are you going on the field trip tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I mean I don't want to, but my Mom thinks it'll be good for me or something. If it makes the school day go by faster though then I'm all for it," Shay answered. Dustin nodded, watching as she punched his shoulder again. "Text me later," she said in an almost demanding voice. "Alright."

Dustin waved at her as she exited his car, walking over to her house as he drove off. With all of these road blocks and incidents going on, Dustin was surprised the field trip was still a go. He didn't care though, at least that meant the field trip would be exciting right?


	5. Chapter 2: Mental Alarm

**Thank you all for the reviews you left. Sorry this one took a bit longer to type because I'm lazy and had other fandoms to attend to. So, I'll tell you now that this chapter is boring and pretty long, but that is only because I had to put it in some way so that way the zombie outbreak wouldn't just randomly occur strangely, which is why there is a butt load of foreshadowing. I will also give you a hint that many of the random events in this chapter before the actually outbreak happens will be something that is brought up later (and I mean just about everything that happened in this chapter), so in a way, despite it being boring, it is important. But, on the bright side, after this chapter, it'll be a lot more interesting. Plus, there is a poll on my profile, so, please check it out and enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 2:  
Mental Alarm**

"Two minute left on the clock!"

It was nearing 5'o'clock at night and a big basketball game was taking place at the high school. The crowd was more ecstatic than normal, being this game was second to last until the finals. The whole team was tired and ready to go home, and being they were well ahead in points, none of them were even trying anymore. This, of course, was all thanks to their star player Noah Kelly.

Noah sat at the bottom bleacher, sweat beaming down his chin as he breathed heavily. Noah was very popular in the school, mostly due to his reputation as a basketball player and his good looks. He wasn't conceited about it though, and was a pretty chill and laid back guy; but he did love the attention every now and then. Noah was dark skinned with dark brown eyes, a lean and toned build and black hair that was in dreadlocks stopping at his neck. The most visible thing about him though was the sleeve tattoos he had. His sleeves were made up of many different tribal designs and a few random things related to music and basketball.

The crowd was clapping loudly as the last minute hit the clock, the players going back and forth. To motivate his team, Noah started clapping himself, calling their names out and smiling brightly. He glanced over at his coach who wasn't even paying attention anymore being the game was practically already over. Noah laughed at that fact, looking back at the game as he saw his team mate running to the opponent's side with the ball. He was going to score another point for the team.

Noah was standing up now, cheering his team mate on as he watched him prepare to slam the ball into the hoop. The crowd was going crazy, people chanting his name with their eyes all on him. But suddenly, things went wrong.

The moment he got close to the hoop, the player made a loud grunting noise despite not being touched by anyone on the court. The ball slipped out of his hands and another player grabbed it, oblivious of the enormous amount of pain surging through the teen's body. The crowd watched in confusion as the boy landed on his knees, coughing to himself before trying to turn around and get the ball back. Big mistake.

He took two steps and staggered a bit before falling face first onto the court, the crowd gasping and the players stopping. Everyone stared in silence as the refs ran over to check on him, waving for more help. By now, Noah and his team mates had ran over to the boy's aid themselves as he violently shook uncontrollably. Someone in the distance had begun to cry, but if the crowd wasn't crying, they were whispering to each other, pulling their phones out to share the incident on Facebook.

Noah watched as an ambulance was called, the boy being taking out of the room and into the nurse's office before paramedics arrived. The game was over.

Everyone was now exiting the school and preparing to go home. Noah stepped out of the gym himself, slipping a sweatshirt on as he tried to comprehend what just happened. The only reasonable conclusion he could think of about it was the guy was dehydrated. Maybe he was having a seizure; maybe he had some medical condition the boy never shared to the team. Whatever it was, Noah has heard that a lot of athletes have been going through this sudden "seizure" incident lately, and that they should be aware of it. While he was wary of the condition, he didn't think it would happen to them. But whatever happened, Noah wanted it out of his head.

"Hey!" Noah suddenly heard from behind. Noah turned around to be facing Marian Smith, though most people just called her Mari. She was pale skinned with icy blue eyes, a lean and fit build, and black hair put in a low, loose ponytail. A lot of men in the school found her attractive, but sadly for them, men weren't the type of people she dated. Noah and Mari didn't really talk much, being Mari preferred to hang out with those you'd say were at the "bottom of the food chain"; however she was acquainted enough with Noah to be able to talk to him.

Mari approached him, looking at the ambulance that was taking the basketball player away. "What happened?" she asked.

"I don't know," Noah replied, walking over to his black Suzuki DR650 as Mari followed. They walked around the ambulance and through the parking lot before reaching Noah's motorcycle. "He was doing fine and was about to score a shot and then he just... collapsed," explained Noah.

"Damn, well was he OK when you guys started?" asked Mari. Noah nodded, taking a seat on his motorcycle while igniting the engine. "He kept saying he had a headache or something, but other than that he wasn't really complaining about anything. He was playing the game very well too up until now. I just hope he'll be OK."

Mari sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "Yeah, I was just doing some after school stuff when I heard all the commotion," she mentioned, "Well besides that, did you guys win?"

"Is that even a valid question?" Noah chuckled. Mari chuckled herself, watching as Noah put his helmet on. "Well," she said, "I see you're on your way so I'll let you go now; I was just curious as to what happened." Noah nodded, allowing Mari to back out of the way before he pulled out, giving her a parting wave before driving off into the distance.

**...**

"I can't believe you shot the car!"

Car tires beat against the battered cement of roads as they drove home. An orange colored sun slowly set over buildings and Evergreen trees as evening approached; the day was nearing its end. Co workers and students were coming home from school or wherever else they were, finishing their last task so they could spend the last three hours they had to themselves. The day of the life of an average human.

Chris Robertson sat on his bed, locked away in his room as he held a PlayStation controller in his hands, playing Left 4 Dead online with his three friends. Chris moved his character into the safe room as he laughed, reaching over to his dresser to grab the can of Coca Cola he was drinking. Chris had fair skin with blue eyes, having a slightly muscular build with blond hair styled in the medium regulation of a marine cut. Being he was from and grew up in Texas for a bit of time, the accent carried with him into Brier Field, and people often poked fun at him and called him a "Cowboy". He didn't mind much though.

Being not all of them owned a headset, to communicate with each other, they each opened up their Skype accounts and went into a four way call, their screen split into three sections for each person. Since they all arrived home from school, Chris, Dustin, Shay and their new friend (who Chris introduced to them) Darren had started playing video games together.

"Why would you shoot the car?" questioned Darren, "Did that remotely seem smart to you?" Chris chuckled, looking down at his screen as he saw Darren chewing on his lower lip. Darren was British with grayish blue eyes, a stocky build that's slim and toned with broad shoulders, and dark brown, mid-length and messy hair. Darren let his controller drop to his lap as he looked at his small web cam to virtually stare at Chris. "Great, now I died!" he exclaimed.

"Oops," Chris replied, sticking his tongue out and biting it a bit while cackling. Darren switched screens to see that Chris was in the safe room already and groaned. "Of course you're at the safe house already," he commented.

Dustin, who had one headphone piece in his ear playing Rings of Saturn's album "Dingir" laughed to himself. "Calm your tits dude," he chuckled, "When we get there we'll start over."

"Besides, where's the fun in not shooting the cars; it brings the action over," Shay commented herself, smiling mockingly as she reached the safe room as well. "I mean come on now, who likes to play it safe on a video game? Where's the excitement at?"

"I'll show you some excitement if you'd like," Darren winked. Shay made some awfully realistic barfing noises before replying in monotone, "Ha ha ha, sorry but you're literally incapable of fulfilling the kind of excitement I'm into with all your bitching and whining." The other two laughed at her comment, leading to Darren laughing himself, "Don't act like you don't want it." Shay made barfing noises once more right when the game went to the score board while loading up the next chapter.

The four of them sighed lightly to themselves as they prepared themselves for the next map. Shay, who was going to begin a conversation, suddenly heard awfully loud noises coming from outside of her house, the sound loud enough to be audible through the laptop speakers of the others. "What's that?" Dustin questioned.

"Just some weirdo outside," answered Shay, "I'm sure they'll go away eventually-"

Shay cut herself off when she watched Dustin shove a whole brownie into his mouth. "Dude, you were just high this morning; take a break," she said. "Hey, let the man do him," Chris mentioned, taking another sip of his soda. Dustin became giggly as his cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. "I've been high this whole time," he giggled, "Where have you been sunshine?"

"Don't call me that," Shay said bluntly and emotionlessly, causing Dustin to laugh. Shay couldn't help but laugh at the state he was in, but quickly stopped when she heard more banging coming from outside of her home. "What the hell," she groaned.

"Is that the same 'weirdo'?" Darren asked. Shay nodded, standing up from her couch as she walked off screen, leaving the others to sit there in silence. They could hear her opening a door and she shouted some rather unpleasant words at someone. The three boys laughed in response. They continued to listen to Shay yell something to someone before it grew quiet. It stayed quiet for awhile; the three boys were too caught up in other things to really notice though.

Finally, another noise was heard, but it wasn't shouting; it wasn't even verbal talking. It was a loud yelp. The boys straightened up a bit when they heard a door slam and saw a shadow hovering over their monitor. "Son of a bitch," they heard Shay blurt out before she plopped down on her couch. She was holding onto her neck tightly as she winced a bit. "What happened?" Dustin asked, sounding more concerned than he should of. "It's nothing," Shay said, "I've gotta go now. I'll see you at school."

Before anyone could protest, Shay cut her cam off and signed off her PlayStation, leaving the three to themselves. "I wonder what that was all about," mentioned Chris. Dustin shrugged, bringing his attention to his front door as he heard his parents preparing to come in. "Well," he sighed, "I'm gonna head out too. I've got a date with my bed."

"Yeah, I guess so," Darren said, "I mean, that's the only thing near _you_ getting laid, am I right?"

"I think your mom would disagree," Dustin added. Darren howled a bit, "Eight grade humor, that's beautiful." Dustin chuckled at the comment, waving slightly before turning everything off, right on cue to his parents walking in with bags of groceries, setting all of it down in the kitchen. "Hey," Dustin greeted, picking his trash up to throw it away.

"Hi hun," his mom said in a slightly grunted voice after setting the groceries down on the counter. "Is this for the weekend?" Dustin asked.

"Yep," his mom said, "We decided to buy a lot, being we won't be here on the weekend and you and Annie tend to eat a lot." Dustin's parents were going on a four day vacation to spend some time together away from the kids, leaving them alone to the apartment for the following four days. They felt, being Dustin was 17 and damn near graduated, he'd be able to manage watching his sister while they were gone. Dustin didn't have to worry about driving his sister to school either, being his parents would be taking the car and her school was canceled for a few days due to some incident that happened.

"Please don't eat all of the food while we're gone," his mom chided, "This is well over enough to last."

"No promises," Dustin stated, "I'm heading off to bed now, so goodnight."

"Alright Dusty, your father and I will be leaving early in the morning, so I'll make sure to call you when we've arrived at our hotel."

Dustin nodded, waving a bit as he went down the hallway and into his bedroom.

**...**

His skateboard bumped against the cracked sidewalks, the sun just rising for the morning. Dustin was making his way to school on his skateboard, and he couldn't help but notice how vacant the city was. He wasn't surprised that the sidewalks were empty being people don't really walk down them so early in the morning, however the streets were vacant of any car. Usually there were at least a couple of cars on the road or something; not today though. Occasionally, Dustin would see a car or two speeding well over the speed limit down the road; the thought as to why though completely went over Dustin's head.

With his headphones on and his mind on getting from point A to point B, Dustin wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings. He felt the wind blow through his short and slightly ruffled hair as the black zip up jacket he wore (which was open), blew around his black t-shirt which has a big white cross centered on the front side. It matched his dark gray jeans and black Adidas, a common outfit he'd wear. He smiled at the thought of thinking he looked slightly cool skating down the empty sidewalk, his tongue flicking at his piercings.

It didn't take long for Dustin to reach the school, and in a way he was bit calmed to see that it was as crowded as normal as he made it to the front entrance. Upon entering the school, Dustin immediately spotted Shay walking rather quickly down the hallway. "Shay!" he called, hopping off his skateboard and carrying it in with him. Shay ignored him, causing him to pout as he chased after her. "Shayla!"

She finally turned around, seeing him as she stared at him with a slightly disenchanted look. Like normal, she wore something long sleeved, being it was a large, black sweater with a Creature skateboard design on it, along with dark green skinny jeans, and black high top converse. What was eye popping on her most though was the rather large purple bruise she had on her neck which she wasn't trying to hide whatsoever.

Dustin gaped at the sight like an idiot. "Whoa," he bellowed, "What happened?"

"It's nothing," she almost immediately stated, now trying to cover it with her hand. Dustin reached his hand out for hers as he tried to pry it away from her neck. He often unintentionally crossed the boundary with her when it came to being touched by people, which she didn't like one bit, even from him. She jerked away enough for him to stop touching her. The two began to walk into the gymnasium, where students who were going on the field trip would be meeting as they took a seat on the bleachers with the rest of the students.

"Did someone hit you?" he asked, placing his backpack and skateboard down beside himself. "Don't worry about it," Shay blurted, blinking faster than normal being she was uncomfortable with all of these questions. "Dude, why aren't you telling me?" asked Dustin, "Is it that bad?"

"No, it's not that."

"Well... you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Dustin said, pulling his phone out to pause his music. Shay chewed on the inside of her cheek before letting out a large sigh, leaning back on the bleachers. "Fine, fine, I'll tell you," she said rather angrily, "So you know how yesterday I said some weirdo was outside my house?"

Dustin nodded.

"Well, I go out there to ask what his deal is, next thing I know he's trying to grab me and stuff and he hit my neck so fucking hard he left this ugly ass bruise on it. That's why I left, because I came back inside ready to grab my bat and beat his ass into the ground. But when I went outside he'd gone somewhere else."

"Damn, he didn't like... supremely hurt you right? I mean, besides the bruise and all-"

"No it's fine Dusty," Shay interrupted. Before the two of them could say anything else though, the bell rung and four teachers approached the crowd of students. The teachers got all the students to quiet down before taking a few minutes to explain the field and trip, finally allowing everyone to head to the buses in the parking lot.

Groups of students exited the gym, making their way into the parking lots as they saw three buses lined up together, ready to start heading out. The teachers struggled at first, but in time managed to get the students into the buses at appropriate amounts. All of the students were loud and full of talk today, sitting beside their friends as they waited for the buses to pull out onto the road.

Dustin sat with Shay at the way back, Chris and Darren sitting a seat ahead of them. Conner sat in the front with Natalia, Katie and Cass sitting in the seat across from them as they joked around loudly. Katie's boyfriend Sam sat at the front as well, joining them in their conversation. Dainty sat by herself near the middle, Noah sitting in front of her next to David who were chatting about what happened yesterday. As all three of the buses were beginning to fill up, a girl suddenly walked down the aisle, oddly catching the students attention.

The girl had pale skin and light blue eyes with a thin framed body type, her breast nearly bordering a b-cup as her light blond hair which was put into a single braid rested on her shoulder. She wore a thin electric blue jumper, a snow flake hair pin and a knee-length greyish white frilly skirt with knee-length socks of the same color, and fur lined high-heel boots. This was Jacqueline Ferndale. Jacqueline never made an effort to make friends in the school, but everyone knew who she was due to her wealth and natural beauty; a lot of boys would ask her out only to be turned down by her, being she was never really looking for anyone in particular.

Jacqueline took a seat near the front herself, hoping to stay seated alone for the drive so she wouldn't have to pretend to make an effort to socialize. She was sadly disheartened when another student sat down next to her. He was British much like her, having fair skin that was pale to some degree and light gray eyes. His build was fit but somewhat skinny and he had black hair that shined blueish gray in different lighting, styled in a straight mid-length cut with bangs curled over the left eye and part of the right. What Jacqueline cringed at however was the black lip ring he had at the corner of his lip. This was Matthew Knight.

Matthew looked over at her, seeing it was bit awkward he didn't know her and sat there only because there weren't any other seats. All the same, Matthew wasn't going to be mean about it or anything, and actually flashed her a polite smile when she looked up at him. Jacqueline however was not amused, as she stared blankly at him with obvious disgust in her eyes, turning her back to him to look at the window.

Ten more minutes had gone by before the buses started pulling out of the parking lot, soon meeting the road as they slowly began to exit Brier Field. The drive to the Seattle EMP was rowdy, much like normal field trips went there. Jacqueline decided to focus her attention outside of the window as she watched the few cars that were on the road drive by quickly, maneuvering around the three buses of teens.

The seventeen year old felt it was strange when she noticed a few army jeeps race past them, followed by a helicopter flying over head here and there. The Northwest was practically a military zone as a whole, mostly due to it having two of the biggest bases in the United States; but this kind of behavior wasn't normal... even for here.

Jacqueline couldn't quite put her finger on what was going on, but immediately lost everything she was thinking when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She looked over and saw that it was Matthew. _Kill me now, _she thought.

"So," he seemed to begin, "I haven't seen you here before. Are you new?"

She wanted to question how he didn't know who she was, being she had quite the "rich girl" reputation here, but all in all just didn't feel like socializing with the likes of him anyway. "No," she bluntly stated, "I'm just not really involved in the school."

Matthew was going to reply when the bus suddenly came to a breaking halt, everyone jolting forward a bit. "Come on!" grunted the bus driver. Everyone looked out the window to see the police navigating cars onto a different road, the original road being blocked off by firetrucks and other police cars. Once the buses had navigated around, the bus became unnaturally quiet once they were on the freeway heading for Seattle.

Seeing it was quiet, the bus driver turned on the radio, hoping for music to play; but instead received a broadcast from the news. "Paramedics and police officers are rushing to the scene as we speak to check out the incident taking place in Bridgeport," some news anchor said on the station, "Police say the incident occurred when-"

The bus driver grumbled to himself before changing the channel to something else that was actually playing music. None of the passengers noticed the broadcast that had played, being they were all too busy talking about other things.

The drive felt long, as they drove down the freeway through Downtown Tacoma, Spanaway and eventually into Seattle. Like normal, the streets of Seattle were crowded and busy with cars driving down the roads, making it hard for the buses to make their way through the small streets, many streets being one way turns and four way stops. Before long though, the buses reached their way into the parking lot of the EMP building which seemed more vacant than normal. All the same however, when the buses parked, all the students came flooding out of the buses.

Light from the sun reflected off the building entirely composed of metal, unnaturally gray clouds beginning to roll into the sky. All the students gathered into a group as the teachers led them closer to the museum, no one really listening as the supervisors provided a bit of background for the building.

The EMP was huge and looked like an artist and an architect collaborated to make it's colorful and rather confusing structure that looked as though someone took colorful wrappers made of metal and smashed it onto the ground to make the building. Right beside the EMP was the Space Needle which stood tall beside it, stretching out into the sky like a syringe. The sight was nice for tourist and was one of the many things that made Seattle what it was.

Dustin stepped off the bus, putting his skateboard in the biggest slot in his backpack as he decided to carry it on his back, the end of it sticking out behind him. He couldn't help but take in the scenery. Traffic dimmed down drastically and the streets looked practically empty of all life whatsoever, other than the occasional speeding car.

The boy brought his attention back to the group however when he overheard a conversation taking place. "My head is killing me," a student said. "Do you have a cold?" asked another student. "Not that I'm aware of; really though, my head just started hurting like right now. I might be having a migraine."

"You should go tell a teacher then."

"Nah, nah I'll be fine."

The group of students and teachers made their way into the EMP museum, their feet meeting nicely waxed and polished linoleum flooring that reflected brightly in lighting. The silver, metal walls were coated in awards, guitars and other monumental features, making the place appear very elegant and astonishing. Students gaped at all of the sights in the building, completely tuning out the teacher's constant rambling.

Dustin looked left and right, a bit wary of how the co workers were acting. They seemed a bit off; a few of them were just standing there observing things while some were coughing and whispering stuff to each other. Were employees normally suppose to act like this?

The group of teenagers ventured deeper into the museum, going down all the crazily designed hallways. They took in all the sights and talked to one another about music and art before finding a more secluded hallway in the museum which was dimly lit. The room color appeared to be a dark bronze color, much like the rest of the building that was lit darkly. The walls were curvy, making the hallway more narrow than the others, and hanging on the walls in frames were guitars used by many famous guitarist/musicians. Dustin marveled at the sight, looking behind himself when he suddenly noticed a student acting strangely.

It was the same student who'd complained of his headaches earlier; he was walking more and more slowly than he was when he'd first entered the building. By now, everyone could see how pale he was getting as his legs grew more wobbly. No one really noticed his condition however until finally his knees buckled and he fell on the ground, breathing heavily and loudly.

A few students gasped while others just stared in confusion, trying to understand what his problem was. Two teachers jogged over to the student's aid, kneeling beside him as they questioned if the student was alright. He was unresponsive. The teachers began to look around for someone to come to the aid of the student while they tried to figure out what was wrong. The student began to cough violently, holding onto his ribs as snot started dripping down his nose.

The students gathered around, trying to see what was happening as one of the teachers ran down the hall to look for someone to help. Dustin stood near the back of the group, holding onto the straps of his backpack as he zoned out a bit, wondering if the field trip was going to be canceled now. He snapped back to reality with everyone else when all of a sudden, a blood curdling scream echoed through the hallways, followed by a couple of more screams which were a bit more faded in the distance.

Everyone was looking down the hallway by now, trying to see what was happening. They could hear multiple footsteps echoing through the metal composed hallways before finally, a girl ran down the hallway in panic, screaming a bit.

The girl slowed down when she reached the group, tears and sweat dripping down the sides of her face as she struggled to catch her breath. Two other teachers walked over to her, now patting her on the back in hopes of calming her down. Everyone became worried when she began to cry again.

"What's wrong?" the teacher asked, "What's the problem?"

The girl was practically choking on her spit, trying to breathe and swallow at the same time and yet finding both task extremely difficult. "Calm down," the same teacher said, "Try and explain what the problem is."

"T-They're coming this way! They'll... They'll be here, we need to go now!"

"Who's coming this way?"

The girl got on her knees, feeling faint from all the running, screaming, and crying she just did. She couldn't handle all of these eyes on her at the moment, so she closed her own and pulled on her hair a bit. "I-I don't know who they are... t-they just came in here in like an uh... uh frenzy and the people at the front went over to them to ask what they wanted and then... oh my God." The girl broke into tears before she could finish her sentence, causing a lot of the students to start panicking and asking questions themselves.

"Please calm down," the teacher advised, "Can you explain what you saw-"

Everyone stopped talking when the EMP intercoms came on, silencing everyone other than the never ending footsteps that seemed to beat in the distance.

"Attention all visitors and staff members," an emotionless voice spoke through the speakers, "There seems to be an incident that has occurred near the front of the building; If you all could stay in place of where you are and away from the front entrance, our security will kindly escort you all out of one of the back exits."

Everyone was looking around as the tension began to rise. Some students were noticeably on the verge of panicking or fainting, while others stood in place, trying to figure out what in the world was happening. The intercom was silent for about a minute before the same voice broke out through the speakers again. "I will repeat the message, please listen carefully," they informed, "All visitors and staff members, there seems to be an incident-"

The intercoms turned off in a loud screech, causing just about everyone in the building to cover their ears and even scream in terror. The screeching noise dragged on for a rather long time before cutting off completely. The museum was now dead silent.

Everyone seemed to exchange glances with one another, trying to mentally debate if what was happening was really happening. Was this a dream turning into a nightmare? They all stood frozen like statues, but that all changed when out of no where an alarm started going off within the building, a siren ringing and echoing off the walls. It must of been a fire alarm of some sort because water started coming down from the ceiling, drenching the students and bringing them back into reality.

This was no fire alarm to the students however. This was a mental alarm and it was screaming to them the truth.

This was really happening.

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**Don't forget to check out the poll, it is important~**


	6. Chapter 3: Boiling Point

**So this chapter's a little shorter than the other ones, and the next chapter won't be too interesting in all honesty, but hey, at least it's another chapter right? I would of made it longer but I ended up chopping it up a bit. So yeah, the next chapter, if not posted either tomorrow or the day after, will probably not be until after Sunday because Payback for WWE comes on and I plan on spending the whole day being absorbed in that (and don't tell me WWE is fake because it's a TV show made for entertainment like any other TV show, we all know it's fake to certain extents). But either way yeah, plus it might be delayed because I have a bunch of finals coming up, but don't fret, I won't ditch the story or anything.  
As for the poll, turns out it was a tie between having zombies like the Walking Dead and 28 Days Later, so I'll find a way to make them both work out (probably through the zombies like evolving or something, but that won't be until later)  
There's a new poll up as well, so make sure to check that out, and have fun reading!**

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**Chapter 3:  
****Boiling Point**

In a flash, water poured down, smacking aggressively onto the metal like flooring and gliding off the sea of students who seemed dazed by their quickly changing reality. The moment the coolness of water hit the skin, chaos struck upon the museum. All order had been lost.

Not even a second after the alarm went off was when both students and teachers began racing down opposite sides of the hallway. Screaming, shouting, crying and yelling now filled the whole museum which mashed together with all their stomping, people being pushed and shoved by one another to run somewhere they've yet to think about. Some unfortunate students who fell down in the commotion were now being stomped on to near death as their blood slowly began to paint the ground below them. The calm in everyone was no more; all that remained in the air was panic.

Dustin stood in place, allowing people to shove past him as his eyes became wide and sweat began to drip down the sides of his face. There was only one thought going through his head right now and that thought was that he needed to get out of this building. He found the task completely difficult nonetheless, and didn't have the slightest bit of knowledge as to how he would achieve this. But his thoughts soon turned into something else when he looked up ahead.

Bringing his head up, Dustin could see the students exiting into the main hallway of the EMP, screaming and shouting. But as a few of them got out, on the spur of the moment, maybe five or six strangers came out of nowhere from the other end of the hallway everyone was running towards. He couldn't see the strangers' faces very well, but could see the blood that coated their ripped clothes and the savage look they brought upon them. He found himself bewildered as those crazed people grabbed a few of the students. Something unholy soon followed.

The students that were grabbed were thrown violently to the ground if they didn't ultimately trip on their own feet, everyone circling past them as the crazed people seemed to pounce on the defenseless students. Not a second passed after that when Dustin saw something that would traumatize him forever.

He stood there awe stricken, but at the same time completely horrified as his muscles froze up on him and his eyes grew large. He couldn't breathe and his heart seemed to be ringing in his ears. A second after the gruesome scene occurred, one of those crazed strangers made eye contact with him, and he immediately knew something was definitely wrong. _Move,_ he told himself,_ move_. His brain would not cooperate though, and he watched in complete fear as that same crazed stranger slowly stood up, preparing for something Dustin was hoping wasn't the same fate as what he'd just witnessed.

Before Dustin realized it, someone had grabbed onto his wrist rather tightly, practically yanking him through the crowd at the time that he found himself being pulled back. Was this his rescue?

Whoever was pulling him, was doing it so fast and forcefully that he was beyond confused, not trying to prevent anything. Eventually, Dustin's surroundings turned black, other than a few neon lights that were in strips bordering the corners of the ceiling. He'd been brought into a room. Guitars were mounted on the walls in glass cases, the lights in the boxes being the only real light in the room which was barely lighting anything up to begin with. The flooring was a clean, gray linoleum that had open space to easily move through as well.

Dustin was thrown onto the ground and heard what sounded like a door being slammed shut as voices from the students slowly began to come back into his line of hearing. "Man," a familiar voice said, "What the hell's going on out there?"

Still confused and practically frozen, Dustin looked up to see that Shay was the one who'd pulled him into the room. He looked around frantically, also finding that Chris and Darren were in the room too, with that one student who kept complaining that he didn't feel good, also including the girl who was crying about the incident earlier, making the room contain six people. Shay was pacing back and forth, trying to calm herself as she walked over to the sick student who was clearly not doing well at the moment. His skin was paper white and his sweat was coming down like buckets of water as he inhale and exhaled very loudly and in a heavy and raspy voice. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he passed out.

Darren walked away from everyone, going over to an empty corner. "Shit, shit, shit," he swore repeatedly, "Why is this happening? What the fuck's happening?!" The one girl who'd came over to the group of students earlier was crying to herself near a wall, not bothering to share anything to them.

Dustin couldn't think straight himself, finding it so difficult to breathe he actually started to vaguely yank at his shirt. "Everything seemed normal this morning," Chris spoke, sitting in fetal position beside the sick kid. Shay noticed Dustin acting out of the ordinary as she walked over to him. "Dusty," she spoke, kneeling down in front of him. Dustin stared at her with wide eyes, fear within them. "Dustin," she said more seriously, "Hey what's wrong?"

Shay placed her hands on his shoulders in hopes of calming him down but instead received a response she wasn't expecting to get. The moment she touched him, Dustin yelped, smacking Shay's hands off of him as she fell backwards, shouting out herself. "Don't touch me!" he shouted, tears unknowingly running down his face as he went into fetal position, shielding himself with his arms. "Stay away," he screamed, "Don't touch me!"

"Dustin!" Shay shouted, "Calm down please!"

Her pleading did not work however as Dustin continued to panic, his heart on the verge of bursting when out of nowhere-

SMACK!

The room's attention went to the noise as they looked over. Dustin's head whipped to the side aggressively as his cheek turned bright red, his tears basically flying off his face before more came down. Shay had smacked him across the face as hard as she could, anger in her eyes while she gritted her teeth together. This brought Dustin back to reality as he clearly realized how unreasonable he was being, soon becoming rather mad at his actions. He roughly wiped the tears off his reddening face, breathing in deeply.

"What the hell is your problem?" Shay questioned, re-placing her hands on his shoulders as she held him in place, the both of them making eye contact with each other. "I-I saw people out there... there... t-their was a whole group of crazy people," Dustin cut himself off by punching the floor, trying not to stutter so much, "There were a bunch of crazy people out there grabbing students and beating them into a bloody pulp and eating them like they were cannibals or something, I don't know. But whatever it was, they're in here and they're just attacking whoever they can grab."

"Isn't that like something she said a few minutes ago?" Chris asked, pointing at the girl who was huddled in a ball, tears streaming down her face. "Yeah," Darren said, "Is what he's saying the same thing you saw?"

The girl seemed confused of what they were asking at first before she nodded. "T-They just came in here and just started killing the workers and eating them... all the blood... oh my God." The girl broke into tears again, sobbing violently as she could hardly talk.

"Guys," Chris suddenly spoke, "I don't think he's breathing."

"Who?" Shay asked.

"This sick guy over here. He was coughing a second ago, then he made this weird gasp noise and now he's not moving!"

Shay swore, rushing over to the boy as she tried to do everything she could muster up on her knowledge of medical treatment, which she barely possessed. Dustin felt useless right now, being he'd just got done panicking and sitting there letting Shay do all the work. He knew right then and there he didn't want to be like this for any longer. So, Dustin stood up, seeing that while Shay and Chris were trying to help the sick kid and Darren was off calming himself down, no one was trying to help the second girl in here besides Shay console herself. Her panicking was definitely something they didn't need right now.

Dustin walked over to her, getting down on his knees before her. She was oblivious of his presence, being the tears were nearly blinding her. "Hey," he said calmly, "Hey, calm down, you're safe now OK?"

The girl seemed to shake her head as though she'd disagree. "We're all going to die," she cried, "They're gonna come and kill us."

"Shush," said Dustin quietly. He placed the palms of his hands on her cheeks as he used the pads of his thumbs to wipe her tears away. "Try not to think about that," he said, "For now, think about something else. I don't think I've met you before, what's your name?"

"S-Sienna," she murmured.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Dustin. Now Sienna, try and take big and deep breaths. Inhale and exhale; just repeat those steps until you feel a little more calmed down, OK?"

Sienna nodded, inhaling and exhaling heavy breaths as she closed her dark green eyes, her dark orange hair going down to her mid back as her bangs were in her eyes slightly.

"Dustin!" Shay shouted. Dustin stood up, walking over to the others as he hugged himself with his arms. "What's the problem now?" he asked, looking down at Shay who had her fingers on the sick student's throat. "This dude isn't breathing," she said, "We've tried everything but nothing's working, and now there's blood spilling out of his mouth and we don't know what to do."

"Why are you mentioning this to me," Dustin asked, "I don't know what to do either."

"Well that's reassuring," Darren said.

"Hey, if we don't think of something quick he could die," Chris snapped.

"Well um... did you guys try CPR or something?"

Shay, Darren and Chris cringed at the thought of giving him CPR, answering Dustin's question that they didn't even try that. "Fuck!" Dustin shouted, pulling at his hair a bit as he took a few steps away from them. "So what now, is he dead?"

"Forget about him," Shay said, "So he's dead, what about us? What are we gonna do with whoever you and that girl saw out there?"

"We can't just shrug off the fact that this guy just died in here," Dustin mentioned.

"I agree with Shay though," Darren broke in, "Forget that guy, we need to think about ourselves right now."

"I know what you're all getting at but still, he wasn't just some stranger. This was a guy that went to school with us, and we're gonna blow off his death like we just stepped on an ant or something? What kind of fucked up shit is that?" Dustin was raising his voice now, feeling more angry about it than he intended to.

Chris stood up, rubbing his head and sighing. "Dustin," he started, "At this point there's nothing we can do. The dude's long gone over and we've got bigger problems on our hands. If this was under different circumstances then I'd agree with you, but right now we do need to think about ourselves before we possibly end up like him. We don't even know what we're going against out there."

Dustin eye'd everyone, realizing they were right but at the same time was still disappointed about the outcome as he swung one fist in the air, swearing to himself and rubbing his temples. "Alright, alright, alright," he said, "If that's what you all think then-"

"He's moving!" Sienna interrupted from where she was seated, pointing over at the boy. Everyone looked over to see that he was indeed moving, coughing to be exact. His shut eyes flung open and a little more blood seeped over his lips, an ominous breathing noise coming from his nose. "Thank God," Dustin said, "I thought for sure-"

He was cut off once more when the boy quickly rose up to his feet. Everyone felt like something was wrong, but still they chose not to say anything about it being they all were at least a bit relieved he hadn't died. Shay on the other hand, was thinking something else. _I know for a fact that he was dead,_ she thought, _He had no pulse and was as cold as ice._

Suddenly, the boy's head seemed to snap from left to right, his breathing slowly turning into growling as he looked over, his eyes finally meeting Shay's. They were glassy and rolled in two different directions. Next thing everyone knew, the boy had pounced on top of Shay, sending them both onto the ground as she yelped along with everyone else in the room. Shay could barely say anything as she tried to push him off, watching as he kept trying to send his head down to her neck, his teeth clanking together like two glass bowls.

"Get this... guy... off of me!" she ordered, her arms growing weak from pushing him off. Out of nowhere, the boy suddenly puked out blood, all of it landing on Shay's sweater. She screamed out of reflex, at least glad that none of it got in her mouth, nose or eyes.

Finally, Dustin came over and kicked the boy off of her, watching as he landed on his back. Shay crawled away from him, vomiting on the ground due to the foul smell coming from her shirt. Without a second thought, she threw the sweater off, feeling as though her skin was crawling. "What the hell is his problem?" Darren questioned, looking at the boy who struggled to use his wobbly legs to pull himself off the ground.

Darren then looked over at Dustin who had wide eyes, appearing as though he'd seen a ghost. "Dude," Darren said, "What's up?"

At the whim of the moment, Sienna screamed, her whole body trembling in fear and tears streaming down from her eyes. "What is it?" Darren asked, growing more impatient.

"He looks like those guys that came in here," she cried out.

"What?" Darren asked, not sure of what they meant. "Look out!" Dustin shouted.

Darren turned around and saw that the boy had tried to hop at him now. Darren quickly moved out of the way as he eye'd the guy with confusion, making sure to distance himself from him. "Get away from me," he said. The boy ignored him, continuing to chase Darren around as he began to run around the room, having to quicken his pace as the boy did the same. "Don't let him get near you!" Dustin warned.

"Why?" Darren asked, still running.

"Um Darren, I don't think you should question him," Chris said.

Darren looked back once he'd reached the end of the room, his back pressed against the glass of one of the guitar displays. The boy was running towards him now. He came closer, and closer, and closer until...

CRASH!

Darren ducked out of the way just in the nick of time, sending the boy into the glass as it shattered around him, one of the larger pieces lodging itself into his neck and shooting out the other side. Sienna screamed and Chris shouted in shock, blood coating the walls and the flooring. "Shit," Darren said, "I- I didn't know he was gonna just jump out at me like that-"

Darren paused when he saw that the boy was in fact still moving however, struggling to remove the glass from his neck before just breaking it off the case, leaving it lodge in his neck. Now Darren was throwing up from the sight, seeing all the blood coating the boy who was twitching uncontrollably.

"Why is he still moving?" Chris questioned, "He just got a fucking piece of glass lodged into his throat and yet he's still coming! That can't be possible-"

"...He's already dead," Shay said in a grunted voice, shakily standing to her feet, "It's true, no one could survive something like that and still be moving like it's nothing. He's already dead!"

"So what now, am I screwed?" Darren asked.

"Try to hit him in his head!" Dustin shouted.

"What, like a video game or somethin'?"

"Well, it's the only other thing I can think of at the moment, it wouldn't hurt to try," Dustin said, "I doubt anyone could do anything without their brain so-"

Out of nowhere, the boy jumped on top of Darren much like he did to Shay, sending him on the ground as he yelped. He felt this would be the end.

As if his non religious prayers had been answered, all of a sudden the weight from the boy was lifted; someone picked the boy up. Darren looked up and saw that it was Chris who'd in fact pulled him off, throwing the boy flat on his back as he loomed over him. Everyone in the room seemed to be engulfed in the large piece of glass he was holding though.

Without a second thought, Chris put his foot on the boy's chest and swung the glass shard down swiftly, letting out a war cry as it made its way down. Over half of the glass shard was sent into the boy's eye as it lodged deep inside, making obvious contact with the gushy center, becoming stuck in place, blood gushing out from his eyes and ears. The boy squirmed a bit, making inhuman gargling noises before eventually ceasing to move.

Everyone reacted to this differently. Sienna stared with wide eyes, not sure on whether she should cry or scream from the horror she'd just witnessed. Darren was too busy staring at his arm to care about what Chris just did and Dustin just stood there, realizing that Chris just stabbed someone. Shay on the other hand did not care that Chris stabbed him, and actually took that into thought.

Darren finally looked up, seeing what Chris had done and gasped himself. "Holy shit," he said, "You just stabbed him."

"Yeah I just stabbed him, otherwise he probably would of killed you-"

As if their problems weren't already bad enough, all of a sudden, the door opened. Everyone's heads swung over to the sudden aroma of light coming in through the door, followed by four more people running inside in a hurry. They must of been unaware of the other's presences because they all immediately went to the door and slammed in shut, breathing heavily as they tried to gain some composure. They found that difficult when they turned around to see that there were people in the room.

"Shit," one of them said, sounding completely out of breath, "We uh... we didn't know you were in here."

"Who are you?" Shay asked, standing up and sounding very defensive.

"I'm Conner," he immediately said out of intimidation.

"And the others?" Shay asked.

"That's Katie, Cass and Dainty," he explained, "I was already with Katie and Cass when things started gettin' crazy and we found Dainty when we started running away."

"Away from what?" Dustin asked.

"The bunches of crazy people who are out there running around killing people," Katie explained. Cass suddenly screamed, everyone bringing their attention to her as she pointed at the dead boy's body with the glass sticking out of his eye. "You actually killed one of 'em," Conner said, sounding a bit amazed, "I just hit most of them away but I didn't actually have the balls to kill any of them."

"Wait, wait, wait," Chris started, "So you mean all of the crazy people out there are like him then?" Conner sighed, walking a bit deeper into the room as he sat down on the floor. "We don't know the whole story ourselves, but if you want, I can explain to you what we saw out there."

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**Thank you for reading, don't forget to check out the new poll! (Plus, after this chapter, the polls will become more relative to the story, IE asking things like what you would of done in the same situation they were in or something)**


	7. Chapter 4: Tangled In The Great Escape 1

**So I named this chapter after the Pierce the Veil song "Tangled In The Great Escape" which has nothing to do with the story (let alone zombies), I just thought the title was unique enough to be a chapter name. So yeah, I'm not really good at typing action as I am suspense so if the action seems bland, if not a bit confusing, then that's why. It'll get better as the story goes on though so yep. On another note, I've decided to start typing a different SYOC story with a different idea than this (because I wanted to type that one first before this one, but did this one first anyway), so if you see that, please fill free to send an SYOC for it once I post it. I'll just be working on both of them (which shouldn't be hard since summer just started for me). So once again, there is a new poll on my profile, and please have fun reading the chapter (which once again is kind of sloppy :P)**

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**Chapter 4:  
Tangled In The Great Escape pt. 1**

"Ten minutes until we head out."

The darkly lit room grew silent once those words were uttered. The group of nine teenagers were spread out inside the small room, cooling down and getting ready to go out and face whatever horrors lie ahead as they all had to mentally prepare themselves. It was something they knew they had to sooner than later, but at the same time they didn't know if they'd be as prepared when they leave as they felt at the moment. All in all, this will only be answered once they leave.

Conner had explained to the group about what him, Cass, Katie and her boyfriend Sam had seen while they were outside in the hallways. It was a grim explanation indeed. Like everyone else, they'd followed the crowd of students into the hallway, adrenaline being the only thing fueling them as they'd run to the front of the building, hoping to exit. They were stopped when more of them had come into the building, most likely due to all the noise that was going on. After this, all Conner saw was the blood from students who were captured by the strangers, and from there he quickly knew that they were no longer human; and if they were human, they'd gone mad. Whatever the real case was, all he really knew was that he needed to avoid them at all cost.

Before they knew it, one of them had grabbed Sam, a group of them soon climbing on top of him. By then it was too late to save him as his blood and guts spilled on the floor, his screams filling the hallways. Conner and Cass had to drag Katie away before she ran to her boyfriend and died herself. Katie was crazed with fear after that.

Seeing that the front door was no longer and option, the group of three turned around, zigzagging through the many hallways. Occasionally, they found commotion from some of the savage visitors who were inside, having no choice but to defend themselves before running away altogether. What startled them though, was that some of the people trying to attack them were student from their school who were clearly mutilated and bleeding out. They'd gone mad. The three then knew that this had to be the work of some sort of infectious disease.

Letting the thought of this possibly being the work of an infection sink in, they immediately decided to generalize what was going on as a zombie apocalypse, now avoiding all of those who were infected at all cost as they continued to venture through the building. Upon fleeing, they found Dainty who was all alone crying, recruiting her with them before heading out once more. That's when they'd all gone into the room Dustin and the other's were in.

Now here they were, sitting and waiting for the cue to start leaving. Still in disbelief, everyone decided that it'd be easier if they just assumed that what was happening was some sort of zombie like virus, meaning that the only trustworthy way to kill an infected person was through the brain. The student they killed would prove to be an example of said theory, meaning that whatever's out there is fast and agile but impulsive and savage, not feeling any source of pain and only dying when their brain has been destroyed. Whatever other abilities they may have, have yet to have been discovered.

Shay stood by herself, re-slipping on her sweater despite blood being all over it, being she wasn't going to go out there in just a tank-top. By now, the blood scented smell wasn't as strong, making it bearable to where; this was one of her favorite sweaters too. She grumbled as she stared at the ruined fabric, combing her fingers through her pixie cut hair, observing everyone else's outfits. She honestly felt pretty lucky to be wearing comfortable clothing for the occasion, unlike the rest of them.

Darren was wearing worn out converse with dark blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a black hoodie while Chris wore blue jeans with a silver belt buckle, black cowboy boots, and a black tank top. Sienna was dressed in a short lime green skirt with a plain white t-shirt and plain white sneakers, her arms covered in green, white, and orange bracelets. Conner wore a red button up which was half unbuttoned, showing a white tank top as he also wore levi skinny jeans and dark brown dress shoes, while having glasses on. Katie was very dressed up as she wore a long sleeved tight red dress with white polka dots, cable knit tights, a clock-locket necklace, the necklace made of plastic neon dinosaurs, and some knee high black boots with laces in the back, while still having her backpack.

Cass was dressed in a simple black t-shirt and ripped up dark blue skinny jeans to matched her worn out black converse. Dainty stood out the most in her outfit though, some people in the room disapproving of her fashion taste. She wore a pink dress with a collar and puffed sleeves, her hem reaching her knees. Along with it she wore a black waistcoat on top of it and a large, white tie loose at the collar, wearing white ankle-length gladiators with ribbons as well.

The room was quiet for what seemed like forever before Dustin pulled his cellphone out. He was bit surprised to see that he'd not received any phone calls from anyone, not even his parents. In a way, that calmed him while at the same time worried him. He had to make a phone call himself though.

Dustin dialed a number in his phone before pressing call, placing the phone to his ear. It rang and rang for awhile before finally he heard someone pick up on the other line. "Hello?" they asked. It was his sister.

"Are you OK?" was the first thing Dustin asked.

"Yeah," she said, sounding confused, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Do you not know what's going on outside?"

"No," she said. Dustin could slowly hear her voice growing worrisome as he lowered his tone a bit. "Never mind," he said, "Don't worry about it Annie. I'm coming home early; when I get there I'll explain to you what happened. Don't leave the house."

"I'm scared now," Annie said.

"Don't be, everything's fine, just... continue what you were doing before I left and make sure the doors are locked."

The two of them parted ways, Dustin looking at his phone to see that it was now noon, and hopefully when they leave, traffic won't be bad. "Who was that?" Dustin suddenly heard someone say. He looked up to see that everyone in the room was looking at him, Darren being the one who'd asked.

"That was my sister," Dustin answered, knowing now was the time to be honest with everyone, "Look, so I don't really know what all of you plan on doing once we get out of here, but I have plans of my own."

"Like what?" Katie asked.

"My sister's home alone right now, and I'm going there to make sure she's safe before I do anything else."

"So what, you're not going to stay with the group then?" Shay said.

"It's not that, it's just I don't know if you guys want to come with me. So if you do, you're welcome to come; we have plenty of food there and I think two blow up mattresses, along with the couch and my parent's and I's bed. But if you don't want to come with me, I'm not stopping you."

The room was silent for a moment before finally someone spoke. It was Dainty. "I'll come with you," she said, "I have no where else to go right now anyway."

"I'll go too," Chris said, being he's been to Dustin's house a few times himself and is completely OK with staying there. Dustin looked around before making eye contact with Shay. "Are you coming too?"

"Of course I am," she said, "You're like my brother, I'm not going to just ditch you now."

Dustin smiled lightly, seeing that all these people were comfortable with going with him. He felt safer. Eventually, Katie, Cass and Conner agreed as well, leaving Darren who ultimately agreed being he didn't want to be by himself out there. If he had the option though, he wouldn't go with them and just stick up for himself; but he knew his chances of survival were better in a group.

"OK then," Dustin said, "So five minutes until we head out. We aren't exactly armed well so if you find a weapon keep it close."

The whole room nodded and continued what they were doing before the small interruption. Katie stood with Cass, Katie near tears about the loss of her boyfriend as she clutched onto the pair of scissors she'd gotten from the front counter before they ran off. Cass saw the tears forming in Katie's eyes. While Cass felt pained to look at Katie in such a weak state, Cass was unable to act appropriately to her emotions, being she's always had the "Oh Well" kind of outlook on life. Still, Cass felt she needed to do something to make her friend feel better.

"We'll be out of here soon," Cass said, placing her hand on her shoulder. "Sam won't be," Katie murmured, tears streaming down her face. Cass gave Katie a hug, leaving her alone seeing as she probably wanted to be left alone right now anyway.

Cass walked over to Conner who was sitting in fetal position by himself. He'd grabbed a guitar as his weapon, being there was a guitar everywhere he turned. The sixteen year old squatted in front of the boy, hugging her arms around her knees. "How are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Conner said, "I'm fine. I thought I'd be more phased if something like this happened, but honestly I feel fine. I see you feel the same, am I right?"

Cass nodded, sitting down in front of him. "Did you see Natalia out there anywhere while we were running?" Cass asked. Conner shook his head, resting it back on the wall. "I hope we find her," he said.

"Me too," Cass added.

The two of them looked up when they saw Dustin walking over to the door, peeping his head out. The hallway was empty. This relieved Dustin as he brought himself back in the room, walking over to his backpack and slinging it over his shoulders. He then observed the room a bit before finding a stray pipe barely screwed into the wall. Everyone watched as he walked over to it, gripping his hands around the skinny pipe before yanking it off, some steam being let out from it while he held the weapon in his hands. He felt ready now.

"OK," he said, "Ten minutes have passed and the hallway is empty from the infected. Now's the time to get the hell out of here."

The whole room seemed to nodded, standing up from where they sat and exhaling in unison. "So what exactly is the plan on getting out of here?" Shay asked, crossing her arms.

"For the most part, we're just gonna go with the flow being as we don't really know this building all that well and hope improvising works. Our main objective is to get to the back exit and head to the front of the building from outside. Once we make it to that point, we'll figure out what to do next. Hopefully the buses are still there, but whether they are or not, the direction of where we go depends on how crazy things get out there; that is why we're just going with the flow of it all. Plus, there's only three of us with weapons, so as long as we don't run into any trouble, we should be OK."

The room had their doubts about 'going with the flow', but none of them could think of anything better to do for the circumstances, so they all agreed. "Overall, we just need to stay close and not split up. The back door should be around here somewhere, and once we're out of here, things should get easier."

Dustin walked over to the exit, the others grouping up around him as they paused. He looked out into the hallway. _Good, it's still empty,_ he thought, turning back to the group. "Is everyone ready?" he asked. When the room nodded, he nodded as well, now lifting up his fingers as he began to count down from ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

His hands went down and the door opened, and before long everyone was out in the hallway. The floors were stained in blood that people obviously slipped on here and there. Two bodies laid on the floor which appeared mangled and stomped on from the crowd of students earlier. The building seemed quiet, other than the random screams or growling noises that were made somewhere in the distance. Now that they were out though, the plan was being taken into action.

They all ran down the narrow hallway before making it to the main hallway, window lights blinding them lightly and the more open space giving them a bit more comfort in the cramp building. They all paused in their tracks however when they looked down the hall and saw a group of infected strangers and students eating the remains on three students. The whole group paused in fear, preparing to start running the opposite direction once the infected realized they were standing there... but they didn't.

The group stood in place, confused as to why the infected hadn't spotted them yet. That's when they realized it. Chris looked over at Dustin and Shay, whispering, "Can they see us?"

"I don't think so," Dustin whispered back.

"Does that mean they're blind?" Shay asked.

"I don't know, but whatever the reason is, let's use it to our advantage," Dustin said, turning around and as quietly as possible running the opposite direction with the others.

Things were going more smoothly than any of them could of ever hoped for; all they had to do every now and then was make sure they weren't making any significant noise while they ran away. If only they knew where the back exit was, then this whole plan would be accomplished in the snap of a finger.

The smooth atmosphere for escape became more challenging when suddenly they entered the main hall of the building. Curvy stairs stretched against the walls, leading into more hallways on the second floor which looked completely vacant. It eased them that the room was lit up from all the ceiling windows that seemed to stretch across the whole roof. What made things so difficult howbeit was that there were two hallways which went into two different hallways, and one of the hallways had about five infected students who were clearly wary of a noise they may or may not of heard.

Upon pausing, Cass's shoe slid on some blood, causing her to not only fall back but for the noise of her shoe sliding on a blood splattered mess on the linoleum flooring to make the loudest squeaking noise imaginable to man. The sound bounced off the walls and echoed throughout the building, gathering the attention of the five zombies who were blocking the hallway. Dustin knew they'd already spotted their location, causing him to shout, "This way!" The group now running into the more empty hallway.

As they ran, they bobbed and weaved through any more infected zombies that were in the hallway trying to grab them. Though they were easy to avoid, they were fast as they jogged after the group of nine teenagers, making them winded and tired by the time they'd reached the next hallway, taking a hard right and nearly falling over. This hallway was much like the room they'd first gone into, dimly lit with guitars mounted on the sides of the walls. And much like the room, there were people in this hallway... and they were armed and surrounded.

They seemed to have their backs pressed to each other as they swung at the infected, trying their hardest to keep them away. It took the others a couple more steps towards them to realized that the four people were Noah, Jacqueline, David and Marian. They all seemed to be armed, Jacqueline holding a long and narrow pipe while David had a broken broomstick. Marian brought a wooden Louisville Slugger with her and Noah had a crowbar. They were unaware of Dustin and the rest of the group running towards them.

Dustin looked back; seeing that about five of the infected had followed them into the hallway, and with the other five or so infected attacking the group of four, he believed he could take them on. "We're going to have to fight!" Dustin called out in mid run. "Wait what-"

Before Chris could finish his sentence, Dustin tackled one of the infected attacking the group ahead of them, both of them crashing onto the floor as he stabbed his pipe into its eye. It didn't take long for it to die as Dustin yanked the pipe out, turning back to see one of them about to hop on top of him.

Before he could really grip onto what was going on, Marian swung her bat at the zombie, its neck twisting all the way around before she swung her bat on its head again, creating a giant dent in its skull as it laid in a pull of blood. "Need a hand?" she asked, reaching out for him. Dustin nodded, taking her hand as she helped pull him up. Eight more infected to go.

One of them began to run over to Cass who couldn't do anything being she was unarmed. This caused her to scream. Luckily, Katie from behind shoved the zombie face first onto the ground, Conner running over to the girl's aid as he swung his guitar down on it, struggling to beat its head in but overtime succeeding.

Once everyone seemed to get the basics down on how to kill them, the rest seemed easy. The infected's numbers now began to dwindle as they took turns throwing them down and beating their heads in. Eventually, all of them in the area had died, but they knew more of them would be coming soon. This gave them a small amount of time to talk.

"Are you guys OK?" Chris asked, walking over to Noah and David.

"Yeah," David said, "We thought we could just run out of here easy peasy, but... as you could see, that didn't work out as well." David smiled at his comment, but stopped when he saw that everyone was being very serious about everything. "Where were you guys heading?" Shay asked.

"No where in particular," Marian said, "We were just trying to get out of here first before deciding anything after that point."

"Well, we're all going to Dustin's place if you'd like to come," Conner said. The four thought about it for a minute as they looked at one another, looking back at the larger group in front of them before Noah finally said, "Fine, we'll go with you to his house. But after that, then we'll decide whether or not we want to stay there."

"Sounds like a plan then," Dustin said.

Darren looked back, seeing the shadows of what looked like a giant hoard coming their way.

"Um guys, I think we have company."

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**Please check out my poll, participate in my new SYOC story (once I post it), please review and I'll see you all next time~**


	8. Chapter 5: Tangled In The Great Escape 2

**I'm such a horrible author I made you all wait well over a month for a new chapter. Sorry, I lost some of my interest in zombie stories at the moment and started watching a bunch of random movies (which were amazing might I add) to pass time for my very boring summer vacation. I'm back though, thanks to watching 28 Weeks Later and getting back into the zombie mood. Sadly, this chapter is short and will probably be the shortest chapter I ever type. That is because the next chapter is like two chapter lengths and this one is kind of just the prologue for it in a way. So once again, sorry it took so long to type and there'a new poll on my profile. Please review when you're done, I would like to see your guy's opinions on the chapter (even though it's not one of my best).  
**

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**Chapter 5:  
Tangled In The Great Escape pt. 2**

The now large group saw the shadows of upcoming zombies coming down the hallway; by the looks of it, there were more than they all could handle right now. Everyone seemed to be looking around frantically as they all tried to decide at that moment what they were going to do. "There's too many of them for us all to take," Shay speaks, "Some of us don't even have weapons."

"What are we gonna do then?" David asks.

"Maybe if we sit here, they won't see us and just run by," Conner suggested.

"Are you crazy? We can't just sit here and have them "run by", they'll see us," Jacqueline protests.

Everyone's minds worked in unison once the dead started to flood into the hallway; the best they could think of was to run the opposite direction. They made it out of the dim lit hallway and were now in a more wide spaced hallway with red lighting and awards spread across the walls. The floor was stained in blood and there were a few bodies from former EMP co-workers laid out on the floor. There skin, meat and bones were so mangled no one feared they'd resurrect. That wasn't even their current dilemma though.

The infected chasing them were fast, much faster than most of them could take for much longer. They couldn't simply turn around and fight them because there were at least fifteen of them and barely five members of the group had suitable weapons. It wouldn't be long before one, if not all, of them were caught by the infected.

Chris managed to catch up to Dustin as he looked up, seeing that there was a sign that said the emergency exit was two halls away. Looking over at Dustin he smirked. "They're only like a few feet from us now. At this rate we won't make it to the exit."

"Let's not think so negatively," Dustin said, nearly out of breath.

"I'm just being realistic." The group turned down the hall and some of the infected ran into the wall while others stayed on them. Curtis let out a single chuckle and looked at Dustin again. "Listen up," he said, "Give me your weapon and I'll distract them while you guys head out and find a car or something."

"What?! That's crazy!" Dustin said. "If we don't do something we'll all die! I'll just make a bunch of noise and lead them in a different direction while you guys run. Just make sure you don't leave me behind once you make it out there, OK? I won't be long." Dustin didn't have much time to think about his decision, deciding to hand him his pipe as Curtis immediately turned around and whacked one of the zombies away. "You guys keep going, I'll catch up later!" he said.

Curtis managed to maneuver through the hoard and even take a few down. "Hey you freaks! Come and get me!" he shouted. Before long, the hoard had turned in his direction, separating both him and them from the rest of the group. Dustin had second thoughts on letting him go on his own, but saw it was too late to do anything about it now. The exit was now up ahead.

The group slammed through the door, relief washing over them the moment they exited. A bright light blinded them, the sun beaming down and now illuminating their dark atmosphere. The foul smell cleared as both the city and evergreen trees' scents began to fill their nostrils. The claustrophobic feeling they'd all gained from being trapped in narrow hallways together was finally lifted and they all could immediately think straight. They'd made it outside.

Surprising, the back exit they'd taken was clear of anyone dead or alive, the parking lot right around the corner. "So what now?" Jacqueline asked, holding obvious attitude in her voice, "I hope you guys had a plan once we got out of the building."

"We do," Shay snapped back, walking over to Dustin as she said, "But what are we gonna do about Chris? We left him back there dude."

"He told me to just look for a vehicle or something and wait for him 'cause he said he wouldn't be long."

"And you believed him?" Jacqueline said. "Yeah I did. Don't doubt him," Dustin said.

"All I can do is doubt him at this point. What he did can be considered as 'noble' or what not, but I think it's safe to say that he probably didn't make it."

"Never mind him though," Cass broke in, "What are we gonna do now? We can't just stand here and argue." Dustin began to snap his fingers as he tried to think to himself about what to do next. "The buses might still be parked at the front of the building which means the keys could still be in there. Hell maybe the driver might be there as well."

"And if they're not?" Jacqueline added.

"Then I'll think of something. Let's go!"

The group ran around the building which was much larger than they'd hoped. The Space Needle was no where near a mile away from the building as it stretched high in the sky and cast a large shadow over the EMP. It was almost menacing. In the distances were tall buildings and skyscrapers; the tallest one being the Columbia Bank Center which could be seen from miles away due to it's black tinted windows and size. It was taller than the Space Needle.

Rounding the weird curves of the building, finally the group reached the parking lot. To their dismay, there were a few zombies aimlessly wandering the area. Dustin made everyone go to a halt so they weren't spotted and shushed anyone who protested. Dustin was happy to see all three of the buses were still there. Two of the buses were completely vacant while the third bus closest to them had the bus driver laying at the front of the door getting his guts eaten by three zombies.

Dustin turned around to face the group as he put his index finger to his lips. "Let's move as quietly as possible around Them and see if the other two buses still have the keys in the ignition." When everyone nodded, they immediately ran pass the first bus, making a bee line to the second one as Dustin went inside. He swore under his breath when he saw the keys weren't inside. He suddenly cringed at a rather foul smell coming from the back. He nearly through up when he saw the blood fest of the bus driver's splattered organs painting the back seats. Dustin dashed out the bus and went to the last one, everyone following. If this bus didn't have its keys, they'd have to walk the rest of the way and look for a different car.

Dustin reached the last bus and did the same thing as before as he went to the driver's seat. He nearly cheered when he saw the keys were still inside.

Motioning for the others to board on, everyone ran inside and took a seat, trying to catch their breaths and calm down. Nevertheless, when Dustin sat down, he nearly jumped back up when he heard one of the girl's scream. It was loud enough to draw the attention of the three zombie two buses from them, and even a small hoard that had formed near the front of the building. Just their luck.

"What happened?" he asked. His question was answered immediately when he spotted the obviously infected bus driver who was in the back seat of the bus, sprinting his way down the aisle and towards the driver. He was big, fat and burly, having multiple bite wounds on his arms and neck that were leaking of blackish colored blood, slobber oozing from his lips. Before he could make it to the front seat though, Shay lifted her foot out and tripped it, sending it face first onto the floor.

"The door!" Noah shouted. "There's another hoard coming over here and you need to shut the door before they get in!"

Dustin began to panic a bit, not knowing what button did what on the bus; it wasn't even on. Taking a wild guess, Dustin pressed a button that looked like it controlled the doors. Once he pressed it, the bus made a loud hiss noise, but the doors remained open. "Get the door!" David shouted at him, seeing the hoard growing closer and closer to the door. By now, Conner had gotten up and beaten the zombies head in with his guitar, causing a lot of the passengers to scream and gag at the sight.

Pressing another button, Dustin watched as the door closed right as the hoard reached them. They began to pound it, demanding an entrance as they stained the glass with their blood and other bodily fluids. Dustin turned the bus on, the vehicle making a few more hissing noises before the engine hummed along with it.

"We need to go," Cass informed.

"What about Chris?" Dustin said, "I told him I wouldn't leave without him."

"We have no choice but to leave," Darren said.

"No, I'm not going to leave without him!"

"Well we can't just sit here and wait for them to break the damn door down!" Shay said.

"He's probably dead anyway," Jacqueline said.

"And what if he isn't? He'll come out here and see that we'd left him for dead-"

"And that's too bad!" Jacqueline interrupted, "But at this rate, if we stay any longer, we won't be able to leave because those freaks would of either broken the door down or blocked the exit to the point where we can't drive over them."

"Dustin," Sienna then spoke, going to sit in the seat closest to him, "Chris knows where you live right? So if he makes it out, he knows where to meet you. I hate to admit that Jacqueline is right but she is. This is our only shot to go and if we don't take it now, we'll die here and his actions would of been in vain."

Dustin stared down at the steering wheel with tears of frustration filling the corners of his eyes. "This is fucking bullshit," he swore, beating the side of the wheel. Swearing some more, he shouted a bit and slammed his foot on the gas pedal.

The bus stormed out of the parking lot and onto the streets. They were away from the infected... for now.

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**I can't spoil anything, but just in case some of you who's characters haven't been mentioned yet/in awhile are beginning to worry that they won't be added, they are a part of the story. I've been waiting to use them at a special time, so give the story some time and they'll soon be mentioned. Don't forget to check out the new poll and please come back and read the next chapter.**


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